The Supreme Court is not as helpful as people think!

Elena Garcia Mena and Adriana Melendez, Staff Writers

The Supreme Court will run this nation to the ground. In case after case the American people have seen court votes misrepresent the needs of the majority of citizens.  

The Supreme Court is not doing what is best for the country, instead what is best for the privileged. With nine justices, three liberal and six conservative, the imbalance on the Court has led to the imbalance of this nation and under-representation of moderates and liberals. A poll by Gallup shows that in America 36% are conservatives, 35% are moderate and 25% are liberals. There are not enough justices on the Court to represent those numbers of liberals and moderates.  

Most of our Justices are over the age of 60 and have an average of 16 years serving on the court. As more time passes, the justices become more and more disconnected from what the people want. Their age contributes to their bad decisions.  

We believe that the justices should be term-limited instead of having the life-long sinecure that they enjoy today. Presidents have 4-8 years in office, so justices should also have 4-8 years in court to give the best for their people.  

Another solution is having the President choose 1 or 2 justices and the citizens can vote for the best justice to represent them. These solutions would better represent the American people. 

Last June in Dobbs v. Jackson, the Court voted 5-4 to overturn Roe V. Wade and ban abortion. The effects of this could lead to many issues such as young girls not being able to enjoy their childhood like the rest of their peers and not being able to finish their education because of the responsibilities of motherhood. Babies born to young mothers can also be affected if young moms have financial issues and tense home situations. Women’s natural rights have been greatly reduced by this conservative court. 

This situation affects citizens’ lives every day. People in America feel like they do not have a voice when it comes to what law they have and what law they want to overturn, like Roe v. Wade. PBS.org said, “A majority of U.S. adults – 59 percent – still say they oppose the justices’ decision, which removed federal protections for many reproductive health care services, while another 40 percent of Americans agree with the nation’s highest court.”  

The Supreme Court has the biggest impact on our nation’s laws that can prevent minorities from being able to have the same advantages as their white counter parts because it looks like the court believes minorities do not deserve the same access to white privileged people. The Raymond Dirks case is a perfect example where the court overturned any punishment because he was rich and privileged. Dirks was selling information to his clients as a means to make money. The Supreme Court prefers to help people like them, rich, privileged and most importantly white.  

As Times news says, “Far more often, it has stood on the side of wealthy campaign contributors, rich corporations, and children born into privilege. In the overwhelming majority of its cases, the Court has been a haven of refuge not for the helpless and weak, but for members of society who are doing exceptionally well on their own.” The court cares more about upholding white privilege than listening to what the people desperately need. 

The conservative side of the U.S. is scared that once people who are different get their rights, the conservative agenda will be harmed and their money will be gone. People love conservative law because it protects their money. 

This is wrong because they pass laws that hurt people who are not privileged, and they do not support everyone. Many court cases have oppressed people of color, people who practice religions other than Christianity, and those who identify as queer – but rarely oppress a cishet white person. Court case after court case throughout the history of the Supreme Court have shown that people who are different are mistreated, whether they were in the wrong or not, like they are not people.  

Finally, kids have the least say of everyone. In a court case the government was given money to give to school to renovate and make it better, but the government decided to fix rich schools and not schools that needed the help, as said in Times.com, “the Court, by a 5-4 vote, declared that Texas, and other states, had the right to spend more money on children in rich districts than children in poor ones. As a result of that decision, today there are gaping disparities in school spending nationwide. An analysis of funding in Pennsylvania in 2015 found that one wealthy district spent more than three times as much as the state’s lowest-spending district”. This has shown that the court has only supported privileged kids.  

The imbalance on the Supreme Court is helping the privileged more than those who need help. The point of a Supreme Court is to balance the scales of justice in America, and make our laws better for everyone, including those from diverse races, sexuality, and backgrounds. Having the Supreme Court only focus on the wealthy will not benefit America. It will help make the rich richer and poor poorer, thus driving this nation to the ground.