A whopping 75% of Americans think that Supreme Court justices’ decisions are sometimes influenced by their personal or political views and only 44% think the court is doing its job –both all time lows — according to a poll just released by The New York Times and CBS.
Hardly any one (only one in eight people) thought the justices decided cases based only on the Constitution or legal analysis.
This is especially important in light of two highly anticipated rulings due later this month on
health care and immigration reform, which will no doubt be decided purely on party, not constitutional, lines.
It is true that many of us are tired of our government. But it is just as true that the political rulings like the 5-to-4 decisions in Bush v. Gore, which determined the 2000 presidential election, and Citizens United, the recent decision allowing unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions, are to blame.
So much for strict constructionism, which all prospective nominees profess to follow in their selection hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
This poll dove tails with recent criticism of how the Texas Supreme Court is biased against consumers, victims of torts, and small businesses and how it usually rules in favor of giant corporations and insurance companies.
There has got to be a way to make our courts actually apply — not make — the law.