Decisions Can Make Difference
King County
Journal, August 4, 2003
1705 132nd Avenue N.E., Bellevue, WA 98005-2251
Fax: 425-635-0602
Email: letterstoeditor@kingcountyjournal.com
A letter writer ponders the recent Supreme Court decision ending sodomy
laws and wonders how the court can change its mind from one year to another.
Armstrong Williams writes to say that states should define such things. Both
seem to have a strange idea of what the Supreme Court actually does for
America.
The Constitution is a pretty radical document; we have been trying for more
than 200 years to live up to the high ideals it sets for government and
citizens alike. The government often has done things that violate the spirit
of the document, such as segregation, sodomy laws, male-only rules, etc. In
their time these things have been so popular that no one could oppose them
effectively.
But there comes a time when most of the population sees an evil for what it
is. When that time comes, the only thing that keeps an unjust law on the books
is a minority that passionately supports it—usually because it gives them
someone to pick on. Legislators won’t vote to repeal laws they know are
wrong because they fear losing more votes than they’ll gain.
At such times, then, the court can act. These events are rare—two or
three a century—but they’re very special because each one represents the
end of an injustice and a step closer to the ideals of individual freedom and
responsibility that the country was founded on.
—Greg Hullender, Bellevue
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