John T. Broderick Jr.: Not So Supreme

It’s painful to think and even harder to say but it’s no less true. The Supreme Court of the United States doesn’t seem as “supreme” as it once did. Ideology, questionable ethics, the intrusion of politics, tortured rationales, hypocrisy, and miscues have taken their toll. The signs are hard to miss or explain away. They are everywhere.

Over my lifetime, I have always respected our Supreme Court and the justices who served there even when I didn’t agree with a particular decision. The Court’s powerful and essential role in American life and its moral and constitutional authority to protect our democracy and our people from unlawful infringement captured and sustained my respect from my earliest memories. It has always represented to me America’s best hope to try to fulfill its essential promises with honor, fairness, consistency, decency and integrity. I was quite content to have the Supreme Court be the “last word” when a thoughtful, reasoned and impartial last word was needed. But to be honest, I’m not so sure how I feel anymore.