Monday, May 27, 2013

Does social change influence SCOTUS?

It's an ongoing argument: How much do public opinion and social change influence U. S. Supreme Court decision-making?    I argue that justices live in the real world and must be affected, as anyone else is, by the people they know, the books and articles they read, and by the general cultural makeup.

Justice Scalia (and presumably Thomas) insist that decisions are made solely on the law and the constitution.

So, as we await their decisions on the two gay marriage cases, will they be influenced by the fact that -- just since they held the hearings in March -- three more U. S. states and three other countries have approved same-sex marriages?

Ralph

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