An End to Political Judging?

DURING 1989-90 the Supreme Court continued to display many of the drives that have characterized its performance for the past half-century: the aggrandizement of judicial power; changes in established law to benefit favored racial groups; selective application of the free-speech clause of the First Amendment to disadvantage certain groups in the political process; and a reliance on abstractions at the expense of both history and contemporary reality certainly those who hoped for a return to a more modest Court, one less adventurous in making national policy, had no reason to rejoice.

The expansion of judicial power was dramatic in Missouri v. Jenkins, a case that was decidedly peculiar in all of its aspects. The Kansas City, Missouri, School District (KCMSD) and a group of students filed suit alleging that the state of Missouri and surrounding school districts operated a segregated school system in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The district court found that there were no lingering segregative effects from any alleged violations involving suburban districts and so denied interdistrict relief. The court found, however, that the KCMSD and the state had operated a segregated school system within the KCMSD and therefore ordered intradistrict relief.

About the Author

Robert H. Bork

The late Mr. Bork was a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute.

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DURING 1989-90 the Supreme Court continued to display many of the drives that have characterized its performance for the past half-century: the aggrandizement of judicial power; changes in established law to benefit favored racial groups; selective application of the free-speech clause of the First Amendment to disadvantage certain groups in the political process; and a reliance on abstractions at the expense of both history and contemporary reality certainly those who hoped for a return to a more modest Court, one less adventurous in making national policy, had no reason to rejoice.

The expansion of judicial power was dramatic in Missouri v. Jenkins, a case that was decidedly peculiar in all of its aspects. The Kansas City, Missouri, School District (KCMSD) and a group of students filed suit alleging that the state of Missouri and surrounding school districts operated a segregated school system in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The district court found that there were no lingering segregative effects from any alleged violations involving suburban districts and so denied interdistrict relief. The court found, however, that the KCMSD and the state had operated a segregated school system within the KCMSD and therefore ordered intradistrict relief.