Nan Aron, president and founder of the Alliance for Justice, a progressive group that specializes in issues related to social justice and civil rights, discusses the potential impact of President Bush's Supreme Court nominees.
Posted on 01/29/2006 2:04:02 PM PST by new yorker 77
Nan Aron, president and founder of the Alliance for Justice, a progressive group that specializes in issues related to social justice and civil rights, discusses the potential impact of President Bush's Supreme Court nominees.
In a speech which addressed issues such as the American judiciary and citizen advocacy, president and founder of the Alliance for Justice Nan Aron argued that the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito could threaten the future of the nation's highest court Thursday afternoon.
In the wake of Chief Justice John Roberts' confirmation and Judge Alito's nomination, Aron's comments came at a crucial moment within the American political and judicial spheres.
The Alliance is a national organization of public interest and civil rights groups which promotes social justice and which has been aggressively critical of the Bush administration.
Aron said that she founded the Alliance in 1979 after observing a need to combat the rising conservative movement, as well as a growing need to safeguard an objective judicial system.
"There was a need for leadership around addressing a number of concerns, such as the rise of the conservative movement," Aron said. "There was a need for progressives to pool resources and talents such as addressing such threats, like the effort to pack the courts with ideologues."
In her lecture, Aron stressed the importance of the precedent set by the Supreme Court and the immense power of the body. Despite what she called the apparent apathy of much of the populace regarding the outcome of the Roberts or Alito hearings, Aron said that the direction of the Court is the paramount issue related to the country's future.
Aron, whose organization has openly opposed Alito's nomination, said that she fears that the increased rightward movement of the Court will affect much more than the issue of reproductive rights.
"I never believed for a minute that Sam Alito was picked because of the threat he posed to Roe v. Wade," Aron said. "I actually think the reason he was picked was to pack the court with justices who will uphold the expansion of presidential power, and this is where the real dangers lurk."
She stressed that a Court filled with justices who will support the President's "war on civil liberties" offers a bleak picture for the future of the country. Aron said she worries that the President's nominees will promote the war on terror by forsaking the importance of basic freedoms regarding the rights of enemy soldiers, the torture of prisoners and the privacy of Americans.
Aron distinguished the systematic manner in which President Bush has nominated conservative judges and justices from the approach of former President Clinton.
While she did not fully support all of President Clinton's nominations, Aron said that his actions regarding this issue revealed a commitment to maintaining the status quo and upholding judicial precedent.
"Bill Clinton wasn't seeking to reclaim the courts for liberals or progressives," Aron said. "He wasn't even seeking to balance the court. He was putting centrist judges and justices on [the courts]."
Yet, despite her fear of the possible effects of Bush's nominations, Aron said that America's youth can save the judicial system if they begin to question and affect the system with their participation and curiosity.
She also asserted that despite the political jargon and hyperbole surrounding the nominees, the majority of the American people do not support a right-wing agenda promoted through the Supreme Court.
She added that the people will truly realize the immense power of the judiciary if the Supreme Court begins to disregard the general will of the populace.
"I do think that perhaps at the end of the day what will really galvanize the American people is a court that is out of sync with the opinion in this country," Aron said. "Hopefully the general public will begin to understand just how powerful a hold this court has on our daily lives."
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"I do think that perhaps at the end of the day what will really galvanize the American people is a court that is out of sync with the opinion in this country," Aron said. "Hopefully the general public will begin to understand just how powerful a hold this court has on our daily lives."
True, but that's what we're trying to fix. Moonbats never understand how radical and "out of the mainstream" their worldview is.
What exactly is social justice?
Nan Aron argued that the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito could threaten the future of the nation's highest court...
If it is the Court as she wishes it, then I say GOOD! threaten away Judge Alito.
"Packing the court" refers to the practice of adding additional numbers of justices to the Court in order to change the balance, not replacing a vacancy.
Oh, and who attempted that?
FDR
If thats the case, he failed.
Somebody should really tell these peabrains just what "packing the court" really means.
D*mnit! LOL! The bitch owes me a keyboard! Centrists! LOL!
I guess that makes Kennedy and Boxer "centrists." - Along with Mao, Lennin, Marx, and Stalin.
Heck, who or what then is left of center? Are these people centrists?
I can only guess as to what her thoughts on Bill Clinton holding the most powerful position in the word is.
Nan Aron criticizes Bush, Alito (Calls Ginsburg & Breyer - Centrists)
There is NOTHING "centrist" about quasi pro-socialism/ neoMarxism represented by radical adversity by Democrat party partisans, political "liberals", ACLU subversives and leftist zealots.
Like, duh, communists Harry Belafonte and Ed Asner are really balanced "centrists"!!! They are at the center of Hell and Hades.
Either the woman knows she 's lying through her teeth, OR is insane.
By NO definition is the former ACLU Chief Counsel (Bader-Ginsburg) a "centrist."
Yea, most of us miss the days of Waco and Weaver....
Never heard of her, and don't care about her dipsh*t opinions.
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