The Supremacy of Five

Great article about the role of the Supreme Court...

From Reid Alan Cox:

Each summer America learns about the supremacy of five. Two years ago, five told us that equality under the Constitution means “not every decision influenced by race is equally objectionable” even though a “core purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment was to do away with all governmentally imposed discrimination based on race.”

A year ago, five informed us that they couldn’t (and wouldn’t) decide ­— at least not then —­ whether the phrase “one Nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance raised any First Amendment concerns because considering such “a weighty question of federal constitutional law” was “improper” when “hard questions of domestic relations” were “entwined inextricably.”

And, just a month ago, five instructed us that the government can lawfully and constitutionally take our homes for private development because the Fifth Amendment’s “Takings Clause largely operates as a conditional limitation, permitting the government to do what it wants so long as it pays the price.”

In each case, just five decided —­ no more, no less.