The Supreme Court’s three ringing blows for liberty

Just before this Independence Day weekend, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered three stabbing blows to American freedom. It stood for free speech. He asserted that the power of the purse rests with Congress, not the President. and prohibited racial discrimination by the government. Americans should applaud these decisions and the constitutional order that produced them.

Of course, progressives are surprised by these decisions. President Joe Biden, Sen. Schumer, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, and their allies in Congress, mainstream media, and academia have made it clear that they support the opposition. They force the government to force Americans to express opinions contrary to their deeply held beliefs, usurp Congress’ power to choose the country’s fundamental domestic policies, and ensure that elite universities are competent and advanced. want to allow unapologetically racist discrimination against highly qualified candidates. , especially Asian Americans.

SFFA v. Harvard (racial preferences), 303 Creative v. Ellenis (free speech), Biden v. Nebraska (student debt) Majority 6 judges see vicious but ignorant abuse continue like an avalanche could have foreseen. They experienced the same thing a year ago for their brave decision to bring the issue back to the people of the state instead of continuing to impose it on behalf of an unelected federal judge.

They have endured illegal protests outside their homes (the Biden administration has refused to protect them), assassination attempts, and a scathing campaign funded by left-wing black-finance to attack personal ethics. rice field. The six judges stood firm even though his three rulings of theirs could provoke the same or even more reaction. America owes them not only their fidelity to the Constitution, but also their personal courage.

Let’s look at three decisions.

Jonathan Turley: Biden’s Unwavering Ideas on the Supreme Court and the Constitution

freedom of speech

In the 1940s, national unity was so important, and nothing expressed it more powerfully than the pledge of allegiance recited daily by American schoolchildren. But the children of the minor religion, Jehovah’s Witnesses, refused to follow that pledge. After initially denying their claims, the Supreme Court reversed course. The court said the country had no official legitimacy and was fighting Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan precisely for the right of individual conscience, no matter how unpopular beliefs it might be. rice field.

Judge Neil Gorsuch, in his opinion to the court in 303 Creative, affirmed the bedrock principle articulated in the Jehovah’s Witnesses case. Her website designer in Colorado ran her business as a designer of customized websites for all customers, including LGBTQ people.

But she said she would not design a website that glorifies anything that goes against her Christian beliefs, including but not limited to same-sex marriage. Gorsuch ruled that her creative work constitutes “pure speech,” which is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Colorado could not force her to express beliefs and attitudes that were deeply opposed to her own as a condition of doing her business. Gorsuch acknowledged that states can demand indiscriminate access to gay and lesbian markets, but she concluded that states can’t force Americans to support views they disagree with. .

power of wallet

Biden-Nebraska will be a fourth straight loss for Biden, who circumvented Congress on key domestic policy issues. Chief Justice Roberts has ruled that only Congress, not the President, has the power to forgive the US for $420 billion in debt. Every penny of that debt is the property of the United States, and the Constitution gives only Congress the power to decide whether to collect or forgive the debt. The court reminded Biden that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted just that.

As the Commissioner put it, “The question here is not whether something should be done, but who has the authority to do it.” accused the court as if it had ruled on In the midst of constitutional pandemonium, these leading Democrats failed to understand that the court had ruled that power over debt forgiveness rested with their institutions, not with the president. If Democrats want debt forgiveness, they must persuade his colleagues rather than begging the president to take matters into his own hands or blame the courts for his own failures.

Progressives are obsessed with voting rights, but they do everything in their power to transfer policy-making power from elected legislators to unelected judges and bureaucrats. They seem to have completely forgotten the irony.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINIONS NEWSLETTER

Racism

In the infamous Plessey v. Ferguson case (1896), the Supreme Court ushered in the Jim Crow era, with state and federal governments enacting laws to strengthen segregation and support white supremacy. Only Judge John Harlan of Kentucky, a former slave owner who fought for the Union, objected. With the Civil War and Reconstruction vividly in mind, Harlan boldly declared that the country had undergone a radical constitutional change. “Our constitution is colorblind and neither recognizes nor tolerates class among its people,” Harlan wrote in Pressy (and is also quoted at Harvard University).

Even though Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned the Jim Crow judgment and outlawed racism in the nation’s public schools, until last week the courts clearly accepted Harlan’s colorblind vision. I never did. At Harvard University, the court has taken the final step. The government banned the use of racial preferences in other fields and closed the only remaining exception, higher education. Even Harvard is no longer a university above the law.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Chief Justice Roberts wrote the court’s strong opinion, but Justice Clarence Thomas’ excellent concurring opinion deserves special mention. Thomas grew up as a black child living in a harsh environment in the segregated South. His opinion poignantly suggests that fact. But for decades, Thomas has been the strongest voice in court against racial preferences and in favor of color blindness. Harvard University proves his legitimacy.

That Judge Harlan’s dissent against Plessey has come to historic fruition at the hands of this great American judge is a peculiarly American triumph.

Robert Delahanty, co-author A politically incorrect guide to the Supreme Courta Washington Fellow of the Claremont Center for the American Way of Life.