Partisan appointments
Partisan appointments
A recent submission by Dan Lindsay of Hilo published in your Commentary section, Feb. 21 edition, criticized opposition to presidential selection of U.S. Supreme Court appointments. His point was well made, but his letter suffers from inaccuracy.
Yes, since 1900, six Supreme Court vacancies were filled during election years; the two made by Woodrow Wilson were made by a Democrat. Term limits for U.S. presidents were not inaugurated until after the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died in office, so the fact Roosevelt appointed a Supreme Court justice in his last year is a moot point, since it can be assumed he didn’t intend to die in office. In fact, 116 years of last-year appointments should be dismissed from Lindsay’s argument since only two of the presidents he named, Eisenhower and Reagan, made any such appointments as lame ducks.
The “tradition” of discouraging lame-duck Supreme Court appointments was a tradition started by Democrats, since the two who did so were Republicans. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
As a Libertarian, I’m sadly amused by all this: A partisan appointment to the Supreme Court is only going to mean one more justice who’s acting on his or her own bias-confirming political predispositions, instead of doing the all-important job of properly interpreting the intent of the Constitution of the United States.
Jus’ sayin’.
Tom Munden
Kapaau
Do they care?
April is Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This is important, but does awareness equal change?
My condolences to a Maui woman’s family who lost her last week at the hands of her estranged husband, whom she filed a temporary restraining order against — a piece of paper that failed to protect her.
In Hilo, I know of a woman whose abuser has not been served with his arrest warrant or TRO months after they were issued.
Police told her it “wasn’t their priority,” and told her to get a process server to take care of it. How can this be, as the man lives near the police station, drives around town without fear and continues to stalk her?
This story is more common than most think and I hope she doesn’t end up as another tragedy. Seems Hilo police don’t care much.
Shana Logan
Hilo