Today's Supreme court ain't what it used to be |
In August 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned after the Supreme Court decided that tapes of presidential conversations were not protected by executive privilege. The tapes thus needed to be provided to the special prosecutor. Once released, a pivotal tape confirmed his participation in obstructing justice to cover up serious abuses of power in the Watergate scandal.
That Supreme Court met the challenge of protecting our constitutional system of government. Today, however, when the risks to our constitutional democracy are far greater than they ever were under Nixon, the Supreme Court is failing to meet the challenge.
The 1974 court understood that, after 18 months of intense public focus on Watergate, the public interest required it to decide the presidential tapes case as quickly as possible. It also understood the importance, in such a politically sensitive case, of the justices appearing impartial.
To accomplish the first goal, the court agreed to hear Nixon’s appeal on July 8, just 49 days after he had lost at the district court level. It handed down its decision on July 24, just two weeks later.
As for impartiality, Justice William Rehnquist recused himself because he had worked in the Nixon Justice Department. The remaining eight justices, including five Republican appointees, then unanimously ruled against Nixon.
The........