Electing the Court
-- Fr. Frank Pavone

Well, this is our chance. Never have we come so close to the possibility of actually
electing the unelected, lifetime Justices of the Supreme Court, as we have in this election.
This flows from the fact that changes on the Court are imminent, and it is the President
who nominates new Justices, and the US Senators who confirm (or reject) those
nominations.

There is no question in the mind of analysts that during the next Presidential
administration, there will be a change on the Supreme Court. I have met all but two of the
Justices, and the toll that advanced age has taken on some of them is quite evident. Add
to that the historical fact that we have now gone for just about the longest period ever in
American history without a change on the Court. There could be two or perhaps three
replacements in the next four years.

On some abortion decisions, the Court has split 5 to 4. The changes in the Court during
the next administration could certainly shift the balance of favor away from legal
abortion, and even away from support for Roe vs. Wade.

Meanwhile, there are already new legal challenges to Roe vs. Wade making their way up
through the lower courts.

And speaking of the lower courts, note that the President nominates numerous Federal
judges, and the Senate is responsible for confirming them, too.

Now many of the policies we have today in America were not determined by the
American people, but rather by the unelected judges. Take, for example, the bans on
prayer, Bible reading, and the posting of the 10 Commandments in public schools. None
of those policies were voted on by parents, teachers, or any of the rest of us. They were
all imposed by the Supreme Court. Consider the policy of legal abortion on demand.
None of it came about by the will of the people, but only by the will of seven members of
the Court. Now, the very definition of marriage is being challenged - not by the general
public, but by the Courts.

There is something very wrong when the will of the people is thwarted by a handful of
judges who don't share the values of the people. This is foreign to what our Founding
Fathers established. They set up three branches of government, only one of which - the
legislative - was empowered to pass laws. Moreover, the judicial branch of government
is not the only branch empowered to interpret the Constitution. The President, as well as
all lawmakers, take an oath to defend the Constitution. This is not an oath to defend the
courts' interpretation of the Constitution.

What a President or Senator thinks, therefore, about the role of judges, is a critically
important matter for us to think and speak about in this election. To say, as Senator Kerry
does, that he will only nominate Justices who uphold Roe vs. Wade, is not only to be
wrong on Roe vs. Wade, but also to be wrong on the proper role of the Justices. Their
position on the issues is not supposed to matter. Their job is to rule on things that are
already in place - like the Constitution, and the laws passed by Congress - rather than to
come up with new "rights," like abortion, that are nowhere to be found in the
Constitution.

The matter is as serious as this: If the Courts have the last word, we no longer govern
ourselves. In this election, then, we will decide whether we will govern ourselves through
our elected public officials, or whether we will continue to be subject to judicial tyranny.


Action Item:

After the razor thin margin that decided the 2000 election and polls indicating that the
2004 election could be just as close, organized efforts to undermine our national elections
are once again in full swing.  On Nov. 2, party and interest groups are planning to walk
into polling sites and literally steal this election.  This is nothing new, of course, as those
groups have engaged in such efforts before.  People pose as other voters, vote multiple
times, register multiple times under fake names, and pose as dead people who have yet to
be taken off the rolls.  In some places, machines have even shown up at the polling site
with hundreds of votes already cast!

We have a civic responsibility to do what we can to ensure that these shenanigans do not
determine the next President, Senator, Congressman, or state official.  That is why we are
asking you to volunteer as a poll watcher.  Poll watching is one of the simplest but most
important activities in which individuals can engage during an election.  To become a
poll watcher, simply contact the state party or candidate of your choice and tell them that
you want to volunteer as a poll watcher.  They will inform you about what exactly is
involved.  In most cases, there is a brief (30-60 minute) training session and a
commitment to sit at the polls for a few hours on Election Day.  That's it!   This simple
activity can help to ensure that the 2004 elections are conducted fairly and that your vote
is not canceled out by someone posing as the man who moved out of the house next door
three years ago.  If you have any questions about this essential activity, please contact our
Political Outreach Director, Sean McConeghy at Sean@priestsforlife.org.

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