Guardian of the Law?

On either side of the main steps of the Supreme Court building are seated marble figures. On the left is a female figure, the Contemplation of Justice. On the right is a male figure, the Guardian or Authority of Law. However, personal improprieties and mind-boggling rulings by current majority Justices are now causing a majority of Americans to lose faith in the court’s ability to contemplate authentic Justice and guard the authority of the Law of the land. And the reasons for this appalling lack of appeal are a-plenty based on past and recent decisions.

In our previous post, we addressed the absurd and unnerving Supreme Court majority decision on Presidential immunity that made all the headlines the first week of July. But preceding that judicial fiasco, during the final week of June, a less ‘newsworthy’ but nevertheless detrimental ruling did its own damage by knee-capping the federal agencies whose job it is to implement legislation to address some of the more pressing issues of our time. What pressing issues might that be?

Well, how about stuff that safeguards (aka regulates) the health and well-being of the populace and the environment that enables and supports the quality of life for all. How about pressing issues such as fighting the climate crisis, seeking to combat environmental injustices and advancing public health measures, all that stuff that authentic government is tasked to do to safeguard and promote the common good over corporate profit and personal greed.

For four decades, the legal doctrine known as ‘Chevron deference’ held that courts ought to defer to agencies’ interpretations of statutory language, as long as such interpretations were reasonable. While Chevron deference meant to clarify the balance of power between agencies and courts, it also tipped the balance of power from Congress and courts to the executive branch. That was then.

This is now. By their recent obliteration of the Chevron doctrine, one of the most consequential Supreme Court decisions of the last decade, the conservative majority has opened the door to a scenario that will lead to a regulatory order that has the potential to devastate the broader public interest. In this new Post-Chevron era (and most certainly if Project 2025 is unleashed in the coming year), we can be assured of less environmental protection, weakened food safety requirements, and relaxed standards governing the new drugs approval (just to name a few).

According to the Washington Post, within a heartbeat following the court’s decision, “corporate lobbyists began plotting how to harness the favorable ruling in a redoubled quest to whittle down climate, finance, health, labor and technology regulations.” The Post then went on to predict that the decision will “touch off years of lawsuits that could redefine the US government’s role in modern American life.”

Justice Elena Kagen, writing for the minority in its dissenting opinion, stated that the Chevron doctrine “has become part of the warp and woof of modern government, supporting regulatory efforts of all kinds — to name a few, keeping air and water clean, food and drugs safe, and financial markets honest.” She went on to warn that “the majority’s decision today will cause a massive shock to the legal system, casting doubt on many settled constructions of statutes and threatening the interests of many parties who have relied on them for years.”

And in response to the ruling Rev. Susan Hendershot, President of Interfaith Power & Light, said:
“Our shared spiritual values call us to care for our Sacred Earth and for those who are most vulnerable in our communities. With their decisions in Relentless and Loper Bright, the Justices have removed vital safeguards to both. By overturning one of their own important precedents, the justices have also compromised the ability of federal agencies to address pressing issues like climate change and environmental injustices as well as public health. Make no mistake, these rulings have opened the door for polluting industries to put our Sacred Earth and all of her inhabitants at great risk.”

At times and occasions such as this it is critical for the voice of the faith community, the authentic Church to respond with a clear condemnation of the cronyism that places people in positions of power and is then perpetuated by those holding that power. It is also incumbent upon the faith community to not only speak up, but also to act out their faith-ingrained commission to do justice as the Prophet Micah proclaimed, and as Jesus taught and practiced throughout his earthly ministry.

As we pray “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” let us do all in our power to act as bold ambassadors of that Kingdom where true justice finds a home in a land where the ambitious yearnings for true democracy trumps the authoritarian, autocratic pseudo-theocracy that now threatens to shake and crumble the foundations of both authentic Christianity and our Democratic Republic. (https://www.npr.org/2022/09/10/1122089076/is-america-a-democracy-or-a-republic-yes-it-is)

And for a brilliant expose (as in revealing the truth) on the Chevron doctrine decision, visit: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Transport+Evolved+Meet+Your+New+EV+and+emissions+experts