Grassley has role of high court mixed up

In Sen. Chuck Grassley's explanation for voting against the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, he recalled the nomination hearings of Justice David Souter during which Souter stated that the courts “fill vacuums in the law.” This notion has apparently bothered Grassley for 20 years, and he decided to take that frustration out on Judge Sotomayor.

Grassley misunderstands the role of the judicial branch. The role of the Supreme Court under the federal Constitution is to “decide cases and controversies.”

Frequently, the controversy is a conflict between enacted laws and the Constitution. For example, can two laws simultaneously seek to provide for “separate but equal” accommodations and equal protection under the Constitution? If these “legal black holes” were not resolved, it is probable that over time these “vacuums” would tear our nation apart.

Chief Justice John Marshall admonished us early on that “we must never forget that it is a Constitution we are expounding,” a living document. This great nation's living Constitution assists courts in navigating the contradictory relationships between enacted laws and the Constitution.

Earl B. Kavanaugh

Attorney at Law

Ames