This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Court decision lacked common sense

The Wednesday, April 27, edition of The Telegraph included an article titled, “Deal’s right to appoint judges upheld.” This article announced the decision of the Georgia Supreme Court to affirm a December 2015 ruling of a Fulton County judge that basically said that the governor had the right to appoint judges to newly created appellate judgeships. His authority to do so had been challenged in a suit that asserted constitutionally newly created judgeships must be elected. I was one of the named plaintiffs and a picture of me was printed with the article, however, I was not asked for a comment.

I now offer my sentiment on the decision. Thomas Paine, author of the custom-shattering pamphlet Common Sense, introduced his essay with these words, “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.” I think his premise is certainly at play with this decision.

Yes, in time Justice Hugo Black, a former member of the KKK, ruled that a poor Florida prisoner named Clarence Earl Gideon constitutionally was entitled to an attorney to represent him. The Warren Court, as it was termed under Chief Justice Earl Warren, reasoned that the policy of “separate but equal” was unconstitutional in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education. And local jurist William A. Bootle faced the threats of angry Southerners for his rulings in civil rights cases desegregating the University of Georgia and other school systems. All of these were men such like we shall not soon see again.

However, there is one Georgia Supreme Court justice, Robert Benham, who seemingly used common sense in reading the Georgia Constitution and rendered a powerful dissent to the Georgia court’s decision. He wrote: “The Georgia Constitution of 1983 unequivocally states that justices of the Georgia Supreme Court and judges of the Georgia Court of Appeals ‘shall be elected.’ … Although the word ‘vacancies’ is not defined in Article VI of the 1983 constitution, historically, in this state, a vacancy is an event ‘which causes an unexpired term.’ ”

After citing the historical pattern of governors unconstitutionally appointing appellate judges, Justice Benham continues: “The fact that these gubernatorial appointments went unchallenged, however, does not cure the constitutional problem at stake in the present controversy. The majority opinion has failed to explain how executive and legislative action cloaked as tradition, or what the majority terms as a ‘standard practice,’ which was not in fact the standard, can trump the constitution of our state.”

Finally, Benham concludes with these words: “While I cannot change the past, I can be vigilant in the present and sound the alarm for the future. I believe that the legislation allowing these gubernatorial appointments is unconstitutional and I believe the people of Georgia have been deprived of their constitutional right to elect the appellate judges who ultimately have the last say over their issues and disputes. As such, I respectfully decline to join today’s majority opinion.”

Thomas Paine is certainly to be commended for his insight and courage, while Justice Robert Benham needs to be applauded for his bravery and common sense. In time, I pray that all justices will be infected with the same.

Grin and bear it?

Why does the child support office in Macon take out their mistakes on the custodial parent?How does the non-custodial parent get to be two months behind before they enforce any action? If you work and you don’t get paid for two months, do you just sit there and be quiet?

Take your pick

I wonder if more people read the letters to the editors than some of the syndicated columnists. However, the recent Walter E. Williams column contains the best explanation of our welfare state and the politicians who promise “free” government handouts, and it deserves repeating. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. Quoting from his column: “The federal government spent $3.69 trillion. At least two thirds of that spending can be described as government’s taking the property of one American and giving it to another. That’s our moral tragedy; We’ve become a nation of people endeavoring to live at the expense of others — in a word, a nation of thieves.”

Which are you, dear reader, a victim or a thief?

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 1:36 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, May 4, 2016."