Mood:
bluejustice o'connor announced today that she's retiring from the supreme court, after 24 years of service. i was really surprised, especially since there's been a lot of buzz about rehnquist's retirement because the 80-year old man's got cancer.
back in high school, i learned from mrs. belcher (history) that the supreme court is, as the name implies, the highest court in the country. they are the ones who have the final say over all the state and federal courts -- so naturally, they're the big dogs -- the ones who police the police if you will. anything the supreme court says, goes, and no one can rule or decide otherwise... no one, except for supreme court itself.
so what does this mean for us now that the first woman to be appointed to the supreme court has decided to step down? justice o'connor has often been called the "swing" voter, because many times it's her vote that makes the majority decision in supreme court cases. among other important decisions, o'connor, along with the majority of the court, refused to reverse the 1973 decision that gives women the right to seek abortion (roe v. wade) and also wrote the 1990 decision which struck down affirmative action.
now that she's retiring, this leaves a certain prez to nominate a (conservative) justice to the court (i.e. the majority will now become more conservative). so why should we care? because their decisions affect our lives! they're the ones who tell us what we can and can't do with our bodies and our property, their decisions define our liberities and our abilities to take certain actions. like i said, no one can issue rulings contrary to the supreme court, except for the supreme court itself... so it wouldn't suprise me if the new, more conservative supreme court tried to reverse previous (o'connor's) decisions.... and with two abortion cases set to be reviewed next year... watch out, everyone. it's going to be a bumpy ride.