Back in February, when Justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia suddenly passed away, one of the first promises to come out of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s mouth was not the promise to help the country’s highest court to stay complete, not the promise to critically evaluate any Justice President Obama should nominate, but the promise not to hold a hearing in the Senate for any nominee put forth by the president. McConnell, and the Senators who agreed to go along with this farce, have committed to disregard their constitutionally designated duty, blatantly disrespect our twice-elected president and cripple the highest court in America.
You may ask why this would matter, since it has been 184 days, or about six months, since President Obama announced his nominee, D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland, and the Court is still hearing cases and handing down judgement.
An eight-person court matters because in the event of a tie, the decision of the lower court is respected, leaving the decision of the Supreme Court irrelevant. Such an event has already happened this year, when a challenge to the President’s immigration plan that would have allowed five million undocumented workers to legally work in the country was deadlocked, thus invalidating the plan under the decision of the lower court.
This continued obstructionism by McConnell and his Senate allies is having a real effect on the lives of millions of people in the United States, as millions of hard-working individuals face the threat of deportation back to dangerous or opportunity-scarce countries, while their children, who are citizens, face losing their parents.
The Senate’s obstructionism matters even more because it shows complete disregard for the U.S. Constitution, the core of this country’s laws and institutions. By blatantly disregarding the Constitution in such a manner, the concept of the mutual relationship that the rule of law requires begins to deteriorate, which sends a signal to this country that it’s okay to put partisan issues before the very command of the Constitution.
By now I hope you’re as fired up about this very important issue as I am. You may be asking yourself, so what can we do about it? The first, and most important action we can take, is vote. For us, as students at The College of Wooster, register to vote in Ohio with the College Dems and make your voices heard by sending Strickland to the Senate and Clinton to the White House. For those of us who do not live in a state with a Senate race, or live in a state where an obstructionist Senator is unlikely to be voted out of office, make your voice heard by contacting your Senators and letting them know how important this issue is.
The stakes are high in this election for all three branches of government, and it is up to us to make our voices heard through voting and volunteering. Only with action can we make real progress to send Ted Strickland to the Senate, Hillary Clinton to the White House, and to get Garland the confirmation hearing he deserves.
Jordan Griffith, a Chief Copy Editor for the Voice, can be reached for comment at JGriffith19@wooster.edu.