as the temperature cools
robes come off the hook
wings flare from the bench
aligning themselves
right and left
constitutional credos
asserting themselves
hard and soft
as summer evaporates
judicial temperament
comes back as rain
to settle the dry restive soil
collecting in puddles
of rank jurisprudence
originalist or activist
catchments of justice
as day becomes equal
to night and the leaves
turn divided to red or to gold
all it takes is that one
orange leaf to fall
landing where law
and where life
will forever be changed
What a conclusion…such skill will send me off sulking of course!
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many of our nine-seat court’s decisions are made by one who will break a four-four tie
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You hit another home run, Paul. God job.
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much appreciated
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Activist courts; demonic when we disagree, angelic when we see the need.
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there are no angels in a mutilated constitution
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Reblogged this on wwwpalfitness.
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thank you for sharing my poem with your readers
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Frightening conclusion. I love the images in the first two verses.
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it’s how so many cases are decided – one vote
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Well done! What a ballad! The dance between judicial credo and activism, not as subtle and culturally devastating!
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we are increasingly at the court’s mercy
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I don’t think that that was the intend of the framers when they divide this system of check and balance. No where in our history a branch of our government have taken so much power as to redefine basic natural institutions.
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amen
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