Supreme Failure

The Head Shake

Barack Obama’s 2010 State of the Union speech provided a moment for political junkies that amounted to the equivalent of bare-knuckle boxing. That moment came when the President condemned the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, stating, "Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections." Associate Justice Samuel Alito was clearly visible mouthing the words "not true" and shaking his head while Obama criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Odor In The Court

Odor in the Court: Why Clarence Thomas Should Resign

Precedent

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is all about precedent. Not just when it comes to rulings that the court makes, but also constitutional interpretations, and even appropriate ethical behavior of its justices. It surprised me to learn that while state, federal, and appellate judges have codes of ethical behavior that they must adhere to the Supreme Court Justices do not.In what amounts to an amazing irony considering the nature of the institution they serve on, Supreme Court Justices may decide upon and abide by the rules that they see fit for themselves. This amount of limitless unchecked power is so utterly senseless that it would be like allowing campaigns for the other two branches of government to be funded by unlimited amounts of money from organizations that don’t have to identify themselves.Oh, wait…(see Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission). We’ll come back to Citizens United another day.But for today, back to precedent.