It's Not About Me
Our Misguided Supreme Court
It’s Not About ME
As a white baby boomer applying to college in 1969, affirmative action had a profound effect on the school choices I had. Ultimately, for many reasons, including affirmative action, I could not attend the schools of my choice. Thus, it is natural for me, and people similarly situated, to not be fans of affirmative action.
The first president to embrace and enforce the policy was Lyndon Johnson. In implementing it on the national stage, he said:
"This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights . . . We seek… not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result."
As a member of a minority, I understand discrimination. As a Detroit area lawyer, practicing law for almost 50 years, I have seen, with my own eyes, the growth of a diverse community of lawyers in our community. When I began practicing law, a black citizen would have found it extremely difficult to retain the services of a black lawyer. Not so today, but still true for other communities of color or religion. We still have a long way to go.
I would be lying if I denied that affirmative action had a negative effect on my life. But it’s not about me.
I’ve never been a fan of abortion, but it’s not about me. How dare a minority political party in this country manipulate the system so that it can play God with a woman’s body and deny her right to reproductive care? This same party tells us that they believe in limited government or getting the government off our backs. Government off our backs, but government in our bedrooms and doctors’ offices? How hypocritical is that? Women should have the right to make these difficult reproductive choices.
I’m a happy heterosexual, but it’s not about me. This ‘pro-life’ party has declared war on the LGBTQ+ community. It wishes to deny the community its civil rights, protected class status, and sanction a society that permits the heterosexual community to discriminate against them. You don’t agree? Think about Nazi Germany and no service to Jews (as well as death to 6,000,000). That was Eastern Europe in the 1940’s. Yesterday’s news, right? Wrong! Today, in America, our bigoted citizens may now deny service to same-sex couples. Tomorrow, it may be blacks, Jews, or whatever minority you represent.
I paid my student loans in full. I paid my children’s student loans in full. When COVID disrupted our economy, President Trump invoked the HEROES Act to provide financial relief to citizens struggling to make ends meet during the crisis. He paused student loan payments and froze interest. Recently, President Biden decided to invoke the same statute to reduce or eliminate student loan debt up to $10,000. Part of me felt that I paid those loans in full, so should everyone else. But it is not about me.
These days, post COVID, everything is more expensive (especially the cost of higher education) and student loan debt is an albatross on the backs of people who are just starting out. How will they ever catch up? Biden had the statutory and constitutional authority to cancel the debt for the good of the country. How do I know that?
1. I read the statute,
2. Trump did the same thing for the exact same reason and no one from his party uttered a word in protest.
I want to live in an America where the United States Supreme Court makes reasoned decisions based only on the Constitution. A single minority Senator drastically alters the balance of the High Court. Stare Decisis is no longer sacrosanct. Conflicts of interest no longer bar participation in making consequential decisions. A Justice of the Supreme Court is not supposed make decisions to curry favor from the politicians who put them on the Court or wealthy contributors who buy them things or send them to exotic places.
Our politics have bastardized our justice system. To our Supreme Court Majority: It’s not about me! More importantly, it’s not about you. It is not about the politicians or donors who put you where you are today. It is about our country and its uniquely diverse citizenship. Last week, you demonstrated qualities consistent with the world’s oldest profession. Shame on you all.