2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Support for nominee and future
Issue date: 11/9/05 Section: Commentary
- Page 1 of 1
To the editor,
A few days ago, Samuel Alito was nominated to fill the position of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. As a student who is interested in my country's future, I support the nomination of Alito.
My vision of a perfect Supreme Court Justice is of one that will uphold the laws as they were interpreted by their authors. Many court decisions in my lifetime have been controversial and divisive for our country. Why were they controversial? It was usually because the court was being asked to re-interpret a law that was interpreted differently by its authors.
To essentially change the meaning of a law was never the purpose of the Supreme Court. The changing of laws has always been the responsibility of the Legislative Branch of our government. This ensures that the people can choose the laws of their nation, rather than relying on a panel of nine appointed justices to make those critical decisions.
Students of this generation have a special stake in this nomination process. My experience with my fellow students has led me to believe that there is a certain type of optimism in this generation. Many students have become involved in the political process because they feel that getting their candidates elected will make a difference. They believe that their candidates will be able to get new laws passed, make reforms to our legal system, and generally benefit the nation in the long run.
After going through the whole democratic process, it would be very disappointing to find that the laws the people of our country had put in place could by simply thrown out when they did not coincide with the political ideals of as little as five people.
Samuel Alito has a proven track record of upholding the law, rather than re-interpreting the law. His confirmation would help to ensure that my generation's involvement in the political process would not be tainted by judges mingling in politics. With justices such as Alito, we could be assured that the will of the people would be upheld.
Terry Pearson
Junior Computer Science Major
A few days ago, Samuel Alito was nominated to fill the position of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. As a student who is interested in my country's future, I support the nomination of Alito.
My vision of a perfect Supreme Court Justice is of one that will uphold the laws as they were interpreted by their authors. Many court decisions in my lifetime have been controversial and divisive for our country. Why were they controversial? It was usually because the court was being asked to re-interpret a law that was interpreted differently by its authors.
To essentially change the meaning of a law was never the purpose of the Supreme Court. The changing of laws has always been the responsibility of the Legislative Branch of our government. This ensures that the people can choose the laws of their nation, rather than relying on a panel of nine appointed justices to make those critical decisions.
Students of this generation have a special stake in this nomination process. My experience with my fellow students has led me to believe that there is a certain type of optimism in this generation. Many students have become involved in the political process because they feel that getting their candidates elected will make a difference. They believe that their candidates will be able to get new laws passed, make reforms to our legal system, and generally benefit the nation in the long run.
After going through the whole democratic process, it would be very disappointing to find that the laws the people of our country had put in place could by simply thrown out when they did not coincide with the political ideals of as little as five people.
Samuel Alito has a proven track record of upholding the law, rather than re-interpreting the law. His confirmation would help to ensure that my generation's involvement in the political process would not be tainted by judges mingling in politics. With justices such as Alito, we could be assured that the will of the people would be upheld.
Terry Pearson
Junior Computer Science Major