Right Wing Supreme Court Now Legislates from the Bench


The wedding website case decided in favor of "religious liberty" by the Supreme Court was based on an event that never happened. Lies and deception is part of the right's legal and political portfolio. We can wish for some honesty but probably there is no hope. After years of screaming the Supreme Court "Must not legislate from the bench" that is exactly what the current court is doing.

In simple terms, we think of legislatures as bodies which might see a problem coming and pass laws to prevent the problem. Courts are bodies which hear events that actually happened and rule on the laws in question.

In the anti-gay web designer ruling, no request had been made by a gay person or persons for a wedding website. A name was provided but the person named had never requested a website and apparently is not gay. At least, that is what we know at this time.

The court, then, acted exactly like a city council, state legislature or DC House and Senate. It made up a law about something the never happened but may or may not happen. It is as far from the "Originalist" doctrine screamed for years by the like of Clarence Thomas, Anthony Scalia, etc,, for decades. The Originalist doctrine says we today know exactly what the original drafters intended for us today even though they were writing 200 years ago. To think the original drafters wanted the Court to guess at the future and pass laws based on the crystal balls of judges is ridiculous.

It seems inevitable events are headed backwards in time to the period of legal segregation. Perhaps this is an overstatement, but it seems like any refusal to perform required tasks in a profession or at work that is based on religion is upheld by this court. It seems plausible people of minority races will be turned away from restaurants, housing and employment because of the religious view of the owner. It a web designer can turn down a gay wedding why can not a motel owner turn away a black or mixed race couple? Maybe there is a reason but I don't understand what it is. 

One thing is certain, the current Supreme Court is ready to make legislation that reflects the religious views of the majority. 

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