Do you believe that men and women are different? It's a sticky line of questioning, I know, but please follow me for a minute. Are men and women different? Has your sex and your gender had any affect on your life? Would your life have been different if you had been born the opposite sex? If you answered yes to any of those questions, please join me in opposing John Roberts's nomination for the Supreme Court of the United States.
Judge Roberts should not be approved for one reason: John Roberts is a man.
The job of a Supreme Court Justice boils down to interpretation of the Constitution. If you go to the Supreme Court's website, and click on About the Supreme Court you will see the third option is "The Court and Constitutional Interpretation."
The document begins with "Equal Justice Under Law," the words inscribed above the Supreme Court Building. Equal Justice Under Law. Equality. One woman on a Court of nine people is not equality. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor even expressed regrets that she was being replaced by a man. Unless there is equality on the bench their can be no equality in the streets.
The document continues, "As the final arbiter of the law, the Court is charged with ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, therefore, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution."
Further into the document is more discussion of the necessity for interpretation of the Constitution. "In retrospect, it is evident that constitutional interpretation and application were made necessary by the very nature of the Constitution. The founding fathers had wisely worded that document in rather general terms leaving it open to future elaboration to meet changing conditions." This is the Supreme Court's own words on their role in our society. It's a huge role.
What does it mean to interpret something? According to Merriam-Webster it means, "1: to explain or tell the meaning of: present in understandable terms, 2: to conceive in the light of individual belief, judgment, or circumstance."
In other words, interpretation is extremely personal and is based on one's life's circumstances and beliefs. Life's circumstances and beliefs are inherently linked to your sex.
Sex is the most basic difference between human beings. Race, culture, educational background, economic background and other demographic factors also play a role in how we each interpret our world, but sex is a constant through all of those factors.
In every demographic, both sexes are represented. Men can be rich or poor, educated or not, black or white, American or not, but men can never, ever, be women.
So I ask, is the Supreme Court of the United States able to provide equal justice under law when women are so grossly underrepresented? I don't think they can.
If you answered yes to any of the questions I asked in the introduction, I am wondering if you think women should be better represented on the Supreme Court. Do you think it matters that out of 9 Justices only 1 is a woman? Is that enough of a reason to oppose John Roberts for this current opening?
The "About Us" document mentioned previously concludes with these chilling words, "When the Supreme Court rules on a constitutional issue, that judgment is virtually final; its decisions can be altered only by the rarely used procedure of constitutional amendment or by a new ruling of the court." If this Supreme Court is packed not only with conservatives, but (mostly white) male conservatives, what will the next 50 years be like?