Empathy Versus Law

Fred Garvin's picture

Empathy Versus Law

President Obama's articulated criteria for his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court is: "We need somebody who's got the heart to recognize -- the empathy to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."

What is the role of a U.S. Supreme Court justice? A reasonable start for an answer is the recognition that our Constitution represents the rules of the game.

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Empathy seems to depend
Submitted by swmbo on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 11:06pm.

It depends upon whether it is useful to certain political agendas. Back when the Supreme Court decided the Kelo v. New London case (and the press and politicos mischaracterized the decision as allowing private developers to take people's property), people wrote letters to The Citizen sounding the alarm that the Supreme Court should protect private property owners from greedy developers. Sonny's Sonny-do list included a change in Georgia law because, “The government’s awesome power of eminent domain should be used sparingly and never be abused for private benefit,” said Gov. Sonny Perdue. “Government must always respect the property rights of its citizens.”

In fact, the Kelo case only stood for the proposition that the court wouldn't substitute its judgment as to the degree of "blight" or the need for redevelopment in a community, in place of the determination of a local development authority appointed by the local elected officials. That is all the decision said.

Unless I am mistaken, the hue and cry over the Kelo decision was a demand for empathy from the Supreme Court, regardless of the state of the law. So, I guess, according to some people here, the justices on the Supreme Court aren't supposed be empathetic unless is serves a particular political purpose.

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If you and I are always in agreement, one of us is likely armed and dangerous.

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Oh, Empathy. Well, that makes it easy.
Robert W. Morgan's picture
Submitted by Robert W. Morgan on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 5:40am.

Bill Clinton, the first black President. The one who feels your pain. The one who lost his law license for lying (don't despair, that's not a serious problem when the mainstream media is in the tank for both Clinton and PrezBO).

I started out kidding about Clinton, but with Obama's immaturity and lack of respect for the country and its laws, I would not be surprised to see Clinton nominated. And of course that would automatically mean more women on the Court -if you catch my drift


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Hack -
Fred Garvin's picture
Submitted by Fred Garvin on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 7:02am.

How many times did the bigger boys in junior high school give you a wedgie for being such a wuss?


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Don't Stop Fred
Submitted by bigon on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 9:04am.

Keep posting. I just love to hear Diva cry every time he reads one of your posts.

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Well HELLo big-ON....
diva's picture
Submitted by diva on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 9:50am.

Mainstream seemed to imply, upon our last engagement, that you contributed nothing to these blogs and simply traversed the ether adding snarky comments and meaningless blather. I'm glad to see you proving her wrong Smiling .

You ever get that weenie do mirror? I got platform boots Laughing out loud


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Diva
Submitted by bigon on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 4:59pm.

Yeah, Jewels don't like me much I think the words she used was conservative troll. Glad to hear that you got sum platform boots. As for the weenie do mirror, Sniff hasn't been on the site lately so I couldn't ask him how well it works. Gots to spend my Obama dollars wisely. Don't ya know.

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Hello "Cal please help me" counterfeit "fred" garvin.
diva's picture
Submitted by diva on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 2:39am.

You seem to have that MOC habit of talking to blogger names who aren't actually blogging. Keeping up with your own lies must be a bit disorienting Mr. "At least I have the courage to use my real name" LOL Smiling . If memory serves me right, you have posted more rubbish on this site than all the liberals combined. I think 211 blogs. Let me check though.


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Dois once
diva's picture
Submitted by diva on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 12:11am.

The TWO ONE ONE BABY!


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That's a lot of wedgies
Fred Garvin's picture
Submitted by Fred Garvin on Thu, 05/21/2009 - 7:03am.

211? That's a lot of wedgies Hack. But it explains a lot about how you react to people who don't necessarily agree with your point of view and your personality.

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a
happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the
other. -- Ronald Reagan


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"fred," let's test points of view.....
diva's picture
Submitted by diva on Tue, 05/26/2009 - 2:50am.

From my point of view, when you said ,"At least I have the courage to blog using my real name," you told an absolute LIE. From my point of view, you avoid this issue because you are not person enough to admit you are a liar even as you call everyone around you a "liar." What is your opinion. Oh, and don't cry to Cal because I called you a liar. It's true. You know it's true. We know you know it's true.


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funny how you clam up "fred"
diva's picture
Submitted by diva on Wed, 06/03/2009 - 7:32am.

when I ask that magical question above. It must suck to have someone use your own lying words as you attempt to call any and everyone else a liar. You are consistent in your silence though.


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