The United States Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court

 By Elizabeth Gonzalez

 

The Supreme Court of the United States has always fascinated me.  It has been said that the Supreme Court holds more power than the president does. (Unknown. N.D.)  In many ways, I do believe that to be true.  I hold the Judicial Branch with much more esteem than the Executive Branch, because they tend not to present the laws, as they were intended work.  It is understood that the Constitution is vague, it is to be interpreted, but there have been times when presidents, such as President Obama, for example, over extended his executive power in Libya.

Of course, there is the question of President Obama’s birth certificate.  He did produce one for the public, but there is still speculation as to its authenticity since it looks photo shopped.  Interestingly, back in January of 2010, very quietly, this question was brought to the attention of the Supreme Court; of particular interest is Justice Scalia’s response to this. “Justice Antonin Scalia announced that the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments concerning Obama’s legal eligibility to serve as President in a case brought by Leo Donofrio of New Jersey. This lawsuit claims Obama’s dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. Donofrio’s case is just one of 18 suits brought by citizens demanding proof of Obama’s citizenship or qualification to serve as president.” (Uncensored. 2010.)  Headlines during this time went as far as to say, “Justice Antonin Scalia agreed for the Supreme Court to hear a case about whether Barack Obama is eligible to be President.” (St. Petersburg Times. 2010.)

Since that time, not much had come forth from the United States Supreme Court other than the news media reporting that the birth certificate does not exist or is not valid –that is-- until President Obama produced a Long Form Birth Certificate. (Pfeiffer. 2011)

Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/27/president-obamas-long-form-birth-certificate

I personally sensed a cover-up here.  Would it have been advantageous for the Supreme Court of the Land to expose a sitting president as not truly an American citizen?  Could that put the Supreme Court under such scrutiny that they would be accused of not keeping to their system of checks and balances? Would the American citizenry mock the Judicial System to the point that they would lose their credibility?  A lot weighed into their decision-making. It was largely The United States Supreme Court’s reputation that was now in question, not to mention that our current president is of African American decent.  Any decision made to the contrary of President Obama would have made the Supreme Court appear to be prejudiced and in violation of African American civil rights.  They could not take that chance.

As I stated above, the Supreme Court has always fascinated me.  I have often pondered if unlike other nations, which many have a president and a prime minister, what if we did?  It does not seem right to split the Executive Branch in half such as the Parliament in England has.  Nevertheless, for conversations sake, perhaps this nation would run better.  The president is afforded too much power most of the time.  The poor choices of the last president and this president have trickled down to the American citizenry causing harm to the people, namely poverty.

It begs the question what if we eliminated the Executive Branch by giving it solely to the United States Supreme Court – the Judicial Branch.  Presidents have made copious errors in judgment and misguided decisions on their interpretation of United States laws and statutes.  Would we not be better served to be run solely by the United States Supreme Court? 

The United States Supreme Court upholds the laws of the land, perhaps they are in a far better place to run the nation, not that they are not, silently behind the scenes.  I believe their power should increase so that the Executive Powers of the President decrease.  After all, how can a layperson execute the laws of the land when they themselves may not be attorneys, never litigated a case, never studied case law?  Of course, they have advisors, but they are swayed by biases.

I have always looked to the Supreme Court as being a combination of the representation of the people; conservatives, liberals, independents, democrats, and republicans that come together as one sole body to govern over the laws of the land -- to see that the United States Constitution is upheld, not withheld.  I could envision Chief Justice Roberts as our President, but not in the sense as we know what a president means according to modern day views – more of a George Washington, or perhaps a Thomas Jefferson type, at the grass roots level working for the people.

In conclusion, ours is the oldest Constitution in the world that has worked for over two-hundred years.  You may say who are you to question this, how it is run, or perhaps, why fix what has worked for so long? 

Today we see our government falling apart at every level. I believe the Supreme Court may be the very branch, which will save this nation from its final destruction in the end.  Perhaps justice truly is not blind in the end.

 

References

Pfeiffer, Dan. (April 27, 2011) President Obama's Long Form Birth Certificate. Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director. Retrieved on August 24, 2011 from, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/27/president-obamas-long-form-birth-certificate

St. Petersburg Times. (June 28^th, 2010). E-mail claims Supreme Court agreed to rule on Obama's citizenship.  Retrieved on August 24, 2011 from,   http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jul/30/chain-email/e-mail-claims-supreme-court-agreed-rule-obamas-cit/

Uncensored. (January 22, 2010.) VERY QUIETLY OBAMA’S CITIZENSHIP CASE REACHES THE SUPREME COURT. Retrieved on August 24, 2011 from, http://uncensored.co.nz/2010/01/22/very-quietly-obamas-citizenship-case-reaches-the-supreme-court/

 

Comments

[Leticia]

I can totally agree with Ms. Gonzalez' assessment.

And the power needs to be given back to the people.

Our forefather's knew what they were doing to keep this nation sovereign.

[GoneWithTheWind]

Just a point about Obama's birth certificate. For some reason it was altered. That is, it doesn't just "look" photoshopped it was photoshopped. This has been proven but sadly not in court. You do remember the outrage in the press over those documents that CBS had that made president Bush II look like a deserter from the national guard. The press was salivating to have Bush's head on a platter until someone proved the documents to be fake. This story is the opposite. Obama releases his official birth certificate and an expert has proven it to be a fake. Where is the press? (Crickets chirping)

[Susan Benton]

Thank you so, so much. This is why it is so crucial to have members of Congress who uphold the Constitution. They are the ones charged with vetting judges, and (most) presidential appointments.

[Jesco White]

Where on earth did you buy your law degree? Honey, you got ripped off.

[John Steidley]

It does not take a law degree to prove where Barry Soetoro aka President Barack Obama was born.Follow the paper trail, He traveled to several different countries as a college student,What country issued his pass port? He was a US Senator from ILL.He was also a student at several schools in the USA including a University in America. Where is the supporting documentation for enrollment in the school systems? The truth is out there. There is a very powerful group of elected government officials doing there best to hide the truth, Shame on you! Your not worth a plug nickle!!