Swine Flu Justice

The world media, and, truly, the world in general, has been all aflutter over the recent Swine Flu (H1N1 flu, hybrid flu … a rose by any other name, right?) epidemic (when a disease hits many people all at once in one locality where the disease is not normally present) or pandemic (a country- or world-wide epidemic) or whatever status we’re assigning it.

My question is: why?

Worldwide, according to the NY Times, about 800 people have been infected, with zero US deaths. Each year about 36,000 Americans die from seasonal influenza. This outbreak of swine flu gripping the world in fear seems to be much milder than everyone initially feared; milder, in fact, than the regular flu. There is a chance that it could mutate and become horrifying, but until then…

… let’s move on to more important things.

Justice David H. Souter recently announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. The problems that President Obama has faced in his first several months in office have been global and daunting. His decisions and policies about how to tackle these challenges will doubtless be long lasting and important.

That being said, his choice to replace Justice Souter might just turn out to be his most important decision that he will make as President.

It may be difficult to see this now, but I believe that the worst thing that happened under President Bush II was his appointment of TWO ultra conservative justices to the Bench. Most presidents don’t get to appoint any Supreme Court justices, and an administration that most Americans want desperately to forget was fortunate enough to appoint two.

The reason that Supreme Court appointments are so important is that justices long outlast the presidents that appoint them. Justices hold their seat on the Bench until they decide to retire (or they become unable to perform their duties), and their rulings potentially change the course of the country (Roe v. Wade and  Brown v. Board come to mind as just those kinds of cases).

I’m optimistic about President Obama’s pending nomination, but not because I think he will appoint a well-known liberal to replace the left-leaning Souter. President Obama is so appealing because of his obvious intelligence and the way he appears to deeply contemplate everything. He weighs issues, seeing them from multiple points of view, and then delivers an eloquent decision. Basically, he is incredibly smart and makes thought-out, informed decisions. I am absolutely sure that he will nominate someone with similar insight and thoroughness.

Many in the media are clamoring to predict his woman or minority nominee. Although I do think that a woman should be nominated (there is currently only one woman on the Bench), I do not think that gender or race should be at the top of the list of criteria.

As a constitutional law professor at one of the most prestigious law schools in the world, President Obama earned a reputation as a vehement pragmatist in his interpretation of constitutional law. I imagine (hope, even) that he will appoint a like-minded person to the Bench. Some liberals might not be happy about that, but, really, a pragmatic and thoughtful Justice would almost always side against conservative rulings, and, in fact, might do some work to reverse some of the recent laws that allow the government to spy on citizens (put into law under President Obama).

However this goes, Mr. Obama’s nominee will likely face little to no challenge in his/her appointment. Republicans will surely make a fuss and try very hard to denounce the nominee, but the Democratic majority in the Senate will make blocking an appointment incredibly difficult.

I am confident that this president, unlike his predecessor, will take this nomination seriously and appoint someone that I will trust to hear each case objectively, weighing the case against the spirit of constitutionality and leave personal politics at the door.

This could be President Obama’s most important and lasting decision in office. This is a difficult and important test for a young president with much to prove. Here’s hoping he passes it.