Thomas criticized the majority for imposing ''its own sense
of morality and retributive justice'' on state lawmakers and voters who
chose to give state judges the option of life-without-parole sentences.
''I am unwilling to assume that we, as members of this court, are any
more capable of making such moral judgments than our fellow citizens,''
Thomas said. NYTimes, May 17, 2010
Wow! Even for a long-time follower of the diminutive career of
Justice Clarence Thomas, this one is particularly mind-boggling. He appears to
have forgotten what the Supreme Court is for. He calls it a "moral judgment" but
what he is talking about is the job of the court to ensure that government legislation and policy does not
infringe on the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. Thomas,
having accepted the job of navigator on this airplane, suddenly exclaims, "why are we
on an airplane? We should be on a boat instead" and jumps out the window.
What is a "moral judgment"? The majority (6-3) simply agreed that
the Constitution of the United States prohibits "cruel and unusual
punishment". Is it a moral judgment to force voters and
legislators to obey the constitution?
Could it be that the framers of the constitution didn't mean cruel and
unusual? Maybe they meant to ban "reasonable and humane" punishments
instead.
One has to ask the obvious question: does Clarence Thomas know he is on the
Supreme Court? Does he understand what a Supreme Court does? If the Supreme Court is not capable of "making such moral judgments"
about what was meant by "cruel and unusual",
then what exactly, one wonders with astonishment, is the function of the Supreme Court?
But
then we know what Clarence Thomas' answer would be: to prevent suspects from
defending themselves against criminal charges. To prevent citizens
from suing corporations. To prevent corporations from being
unprofitable. To prevent minorities from oppressing the
majorities with their extravagant demands for equal opportunity, fair wages and a safe
workplace. To prevent women from stealing jobs from white men.
To prevent black men from stealing jobs from white women. To prevent
parents of minority school children from demanding trained teachers and
science labs. To prevent reporters from demanding information.
To prevent police from having to seek medical attention for injured
prisoners. To prevent privatized prisons from having to provide
adequate space and staff for prisoners. To prevent witches from
witching and sorcerers from corrupting the minds of young children with
their liberal theories and scientific text books and pagan culture. To prevent feminists
from being feminine and masculine men from using mescaline. To prevent
guns from falling into the hands of pacifists and pacifists from falling into
the hands of lesbians. To prevent lesbians from being lesbians or
living in sin or enticing gay-bashing preachers to have children they could
adopt.
Let us all now and forever and again deliriously sing the praises of the
unlawful, the unconstitutional, the transcendent Clarence Thomas. May he go
down in history as the only Supreme Court Justice to ascend directly into
heaven.
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© Bill Van Dyk
2010 All Rights Reserved
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