The Constitution, the Court, and the President-Elect

Among the most extravagant of the harsh things said about Ronald Reagan before the election was the predicted abolition of our “independent judiciary” and the consequent repeal of the Bill of Rights.

Fortunately for the President-elect, a number of his critics have recently decided to give him a second chance. They hope he will do the responsible thing, by eschewing his campaign platform. It would be possible, after all, for Reagan to find prominent lawyers with impeccable Republican credentials who, when appointed to the United States Supreme Court, would not fundamentally change that institution’s approach to its work. Lists are being compiled of such responsible Republican judicial candidates, whose “broad conservative philosophy” would not —to use the example most frequently cited—require them to reverse the present Court’s ruling that abortion is a constitutional right.

GR

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Grover Rees III

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Among the most extravagant of the harsh things said about Ronald Reagan before the election was the predicted abolition of our “independent judiciary” and the consequent repeal of the Bill of Rights.

Fortunately for the President-elect, a number of his critics have recently decided to give him a second chance. They hope he will do the responsible thing, by eschewing his campaign platform. It would be possible, after all, for Reagan to find prominent lawyers with impeccable Republican credentials who, when appointed to the United States Supreme Court, would not fundamentally change that institution’s approach to its work. Lists are being compiled of such responsible Republican judicial candidates, whose “broad conservative philosophy” would not —to use the example most frequently cited—require them to reverse the present Court’s ruling that abortion is a constitutional right.