Stare Decisis

Even if you are one of those who regard Latin as the Mother Tongue, Stare Decisis is a term seldom heard, unless you are watching Senate hearings on the nomination of a supreme court justice, like say, John Roberts, the sitting Chief Justice of the United States. On those occcasions, however, that short Latin expression pops up in every other sentence. It means "decided law", one's respect for precedent and one's determination to maintain long standing judicial findings. That's important because without it, our laws might swing widely every time control of the court changed. Nominees who lack sufficient respect for Stare Decisis might legislate from the bench which is a tendancy of the dreaded "Activist Judge". A synonym for "Activist Judge", of course, is (gasp) Liberal.

The big story of last week wasn't the election in Massachusetts of Scott Brown to the senate seat held for decades by Teddy Kennedy, but rather the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision overturning decades of state and national precedent concerning campaign financing by corporations, unions and special interest groups. Henceforth, they will all enjoy the free speach privileges of individuals, as they refer to donating to political campaigns. Now you know how money really talks and corporations (including foreign corporations with US subsidiaries) may use stockholder money to support state and national political campaigns, as they see fit. Wow! Want foreigners lobbying for our judges? Stare Decisis be damned!

Can the victorious conservative justices, led in spirit by Chief Justice Roberts, be serious? Can anyone believe that what this country needs now, or anytime, is more special interest money flowing into the political process? Large corporations, and special interest groups already pay for the services of thousands of lobbyists to threaten and cajole 535 members of congress (11,500 is a careful estimate of the number, or a stunning 21.4 lobbyists for every single member of the House and Senate!). Now they will be armed with almost unlimited corporate dollars to put muscle into their work. It's an outrage and a gratuitous slap in the face to the country, especially moderates of both political parties. It wasn't a decision that had to be made either; it was a clear example of conservative activism, ideology uber alles. Thanks, once again, George W. Bush! Pax vobiscum.