Posts
Arthur C. Clarke once said that advanced science was indistinguishable from magic to the general public. He might have said the same of constitutional law.
The Roberts decision damages the credibility of law in the public mind, not because it is wrong, though I think it is, but because it further reenforces the publics perception that all law is power politics hidden behind a magician's cloak of legal gobbledegook. The public now perceives that the government can do even more to them than they thought possible. To the public the idea that the government can make a citizen buy things against his will is both alien and troubling. If the government has this power now, what else can the government do that threatens their sense of personal autonomy? By throwing the matter back into the legislative/political arena, Roberts also sends the message that all our liberties are vulnerable to the whims of an already despised Congress.
Yes, this decision will have far-reaching consequences, but not those that Roberts intends.
The Roberts decision damages the credibility of law in the public mind, not because it is wrong, though I think it is, but because it further reenforces the publics perception that all law is power politics hidden behind a magician's cloak of legal gobbledegook. The public now perceives that the government can do even more to them than they thought possible. To the public the idea that the government can make a citizen buy things against his will is both alien and troubling. If the government has this power now, what else can the government do that threatens their sense of personal autonomy? By throwing the matter back into the legislative/political arena, Roberts also sends the message that all our liberties are vulnerable to the whims of an already despised Congress.
Yes, this decision will have far-reaching consequences, but not those that Roberts intends.
No comments:
Post a Comment