'Relying on unelected justices to read rights into the Constitution is dangerous business'

The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.,

There's a "distinctly American tendency to look to the judiciary to resolve political questions"

(Image credit: Stefani Reynolds / Bloomberg / Getty Images)

published 4 January 2024

'Democrats should publicly and vociferously disavow all efforts to remove Trump from the ballot'

Jeanne Sheehan Zaino in the Washington Examiner

The moves to keep former President Donald Trump off the ballots in Colorado and Maine are symptoms of a lingering problem — the "distinctly American tendency to look to the judiciary to resolve political questions," says Jeanne Sheehan Zaino in the Washington Examiner. Democrats apparently learned nothing when the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade triggered multiple state ballot initiatives protecting abortion access. In a democracy, it's best to win political fights "at the ballot box."

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Israel's top court just "struck a blow in support of democracy and judicial independence," says Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. By overturning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "inaptly named 'judicial reform'" restricting the court's ability to strike down unreasonable laws, "the court helped preserve the core values of the country." Taking this stand while Israel fights Hamas showed that Netanyahu's "unpopular government cannot hide behind the exigencies of war to maintain its authoritarian agenda."

It's no secret "social media can tank your mental health and destroy your brain," says Shannon Palus at Slate. But "fully quitting" would be too hard and could make us "less connected," because "these platforms are just part of the fabric of how we interact with the world now." Aiming lower and limiting ourselves to 30 minutes daily, though, would leave more time for books, yoga, and other things "to go online and brag about."

Young voters disappointed over Gaza, abortion bans, climate change, and student loans are threatening to stay home on Election Day, says Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times. Voters between ages 18 and 24 "were squarely in Biden's corner" in 2020. Losing them would significantly hurt Biden's chances of beating former President Donald Trump in a rematch. "Teach Democrats a lesson by electing a democracy-destroying authoritarian?" This shows a "fundamentally weak grasp" of how things work.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.