The Roberts Court Returns

The New York Times' lead editorial today (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/opinion/30sun1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin) looks at the current U. S. Supreme Court. The picture is not pretty and the Court is acting just as I feared would be the case with the addition of Chimperator Bush's nominees. As the Times concludes, "The best predictor of how they will vote is to ask: What outcome would a conservative Republican favor as a matter of policy?" To Hell with privacy, civil rights and the Constitution. Welcome to Bush's Amerika. Here are the most telling comments:

It is striking how conservative the court is now. On race, it was for decades a proud force for racial integration. Last term, it ordered Seattle and Louisville, Ky., to stop their voluntary efforts to have children of different races attend school together. The court, once an important force for fairness in American society, now routinely finds dubious legal excuses to deny relief to criminal defendants, consumers and workers who have been mistreated.

The Roberts bloc has not adhered to any principled theory of judging. Its members are not reluctant to strike down laws passed by Congress, as critics of “judicial activism” are supposed to be, or reluctant to overturn the court’s precedents. The best predictor of how they will vote is to ask: What outcome would a conservative Republican favor as a matter of policy?

The case that will most test the court’s ability to rise above partisanship is a challenge to Indiana’s voter ID law. Indiana is one of a growing number of states that require voters to present a government-issued photo ID. Such laws have been billed as anti-vote-fraud measures, but there is little evidence of vote fraud at the polls. The Republicans who have pushed these laws are trying to make it hard for poor and minority voters, who are less likely than other groups to have drivers’ licenses — and more likely to vote Democratic — to cast ballots. The court has traditionally championed voting rights, but a conservative majority may boost Republican chances in 2008 by endorsing this disturbing barrier to voting.