To the Editor:
When it comes to the Supreme Court, conservatives and liberals have fundamentally different values. Conservatives want the justices to apply the Constitution as it is written, not to read their own personal values and preferences into a “living Constitution.”
Conservatives do not want court decisions to be influenced by the laws and values of foreign nations. Rather, they want court decisions that faithfully follow our Constitution and laws as adopted through the American democratic process.
They do not want five people to be able to strike down protections for the unborn or for citizens whose consciences do not permit them to support contraception or same-sex unions. These issues should be left to the democratic process.
A majority of senators opposed holding hearings that might lead to Merrick Garland’s taking the late Antonin Scalia’s seat. There can be little doubt that if President Obama had nominated someone with the same judicial values as Justice Scalia, Republicans would have been enthusiastic to give the nominee hearings. Mr. Obama, as expected, nominated someone who would tilt the court in a direction that conservatives sincerely believe would be a wrong direction for the nation.
The Senate did not consent to Merrick Garland. There is nothing wrong with that. It cannot be twisted into the theft of a Supreme Court seat.
THOMAS S. DERETICH
Boston
Note from KBJ: The day the Democrats refused to confirm Robert Bork, they lost the ability to criticize anything, ever, with regard to Supreme Court appointments.
