The Supreme Court

An effective tricameral governmental structure is only effective if there is a stable balancing agent vested with the authority to assure the full constitutionality of all official acts of the three participants. Under the American formula of a democratic republic, that power has been so deemed as to lie in the judicial arm of government, as an equal partner in government. The United States Supreme Court has the sole responsibility to determine whether actions or legislation taken by the federal executive or either of the two congressional legislative bodies is permissible within the guidelines and restrictions imposed upon them by the Constitution. This authority also extends to issues of law that may occur within state sovereignty. The judiciary, however, must be only deciders of law; it cannot legislate nor act in an executive manner.

A dangerous trend in recent years has been twofold and does not bode well for the continuity of the American form of government.

First, many judicial jurisdictions have opted to operate beyond being only deciders of fact and have moved into the realm of activism that borders on a dangerous form of partisanship. A court should not have the power to enact legislation by fiat: it should only be responsible for mandating that legislation found to be constitutionally lacking be rewritten.  Legal cases and challenges have been instituted by parties purposely choosing specific federal court districts hoping for a particular political slant to be equated into a legal decision. This has diminished the strength of the federal judiciary, as participants of a lawsuit no longer accept rulings of a particular court, knowing they will simply appeal the particular ruling to a higher court, with the intent of reaching the United States Supreme Court.

Therein lies the true danger to a democratic republic, for once the high court opts to hear a specific case, they are immediately burdened with political attacks and a volley of ad hominum assaults. Legal and greater constitutional issues are no longer deemed to be properly resolved, but rather declared tainted by a political slant. When an opening within the highest courts in the land occurs, the only sounds heard across the media and informational landscapes are diatribes of how best to either maintain or  alter the political slant of the court, as if it were being reduced to a matter of political gamesmanship.

A court is designed to hear evidence and to be a decider of fact. Diluting that responsibility in the hope of a short term political position of power is as great a threat to a democracy as any outside force determined to destroy it. A bulwark must be maintained to preserve legal authority.

The Supreme Court of the United States is just that; the highest court in the land, so established in order that the machinations of government as instituted by the members of the tricameral foundation perform their duties within the confines of the United States Constitution.

If we are to remain a free people, we must maintain the integrity of our highest court and remove from a position of power and authority any citizen who attempts to diminish that integrity for political gain. Once the oversight ability of any system is compromised, there is no recourse left for those who look for redress; if it involves a government, the nation it governs is surely to fall.