Larry Klayman
Move Supreme Court to Independence Hall
By Larry Klayman
As I head to my native city and birthplace of Philadelphia to visit with my family and pay my respects to the place where our nation was born at the cost of many lives this Memorial Day, it caused me to think about the state of affairs in our legal system. Of course, you know me well enough to understand my general lack of respect for many judges and lawyers who infest the courthouses around the country. The former are mostly political hacks, chosen either through presidential and senatorial patronage, as is the case in the federal system, or elected thanks to large contributions from big law firms, labor unions and special interests, as is true in most states. In short, the legal profession doesn't even come close to living up to the high ethical and competency standards envisioned by our Founding Fathers when our Declaration of Independence and later Constitution were conceived of and signed in the City of Brotherly Love.
Philadelphia was the first capital of our new nation, forged in the blood of Gen. George Washington's brave colonial soldiers who defeated the British crown, above all odds, to bring freedom to our shores. It was Founding Father and our second American president, John Adams, who proclaimed in 1776 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia that we would be a nation of laws and not men. And, along with its special place in history, Independence Hall – which I visit each time I return home (for me it's like going to church, especially since our Founding Father's were divinely blessed by God) – was where the concept was conceived of and the reality of a U.S. Supreme Court was enacted by way of the Judiciary Act of 1789.
The Supreme Court, 226 years after its creation, is of course now located in Washington, D.C., right across from the U.S. Capitol. Its nine justices, chosen by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, are an integral part of the sleazy Washington, D.C., establishment. As a result, they hobnob with the "beautiful people" (sic!) of D.C.'s political elite class (even if it is said that Washington is the Hollywood for ugly people). They go to the White House Correspondents Dinner each year, patronize fashionable restaurants with their political benefactors picking up the tab and attend ritzy soirees in Georgetown, to mention just a few of their high-powered elite social watering holes – much like "les mignons" of King Louis XVI at Versailles.
The justices thus become deeply "marinated" in the manure of the nation's capital, where power and money, instead of the people's needs, rule the school. And that underscores one the unique flaws in our Constitution. Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, are chosen and confirmed by and large because they have sucked up to the establishment interests who pushed for their nomination and confirmation. They are generally neither the best nor the brightest in the legal profession. Instead, most of them just said and did the right things, including having their prior law firms or other special interests line the president's campaign pockets with political contributions. The commander in chief then returns the "favor" by nominating them and the U.S. Senate by confirming them.
Of course, there are exceptions, like Judges Royce C. Lamberth and Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Supreme Court justices like Clarence Thomas.
Because Supreme Court justices hail from such political foundations, and become even more steeped in the politics of Washington, D.C., throughout their lifetime tenure (another flaw in our Constitution), they frequently bow to the interests of those that put them in power. From my own experience, this helps explain why they would not dare touch the issue of President Obama's eligibility to run for and be elected to the presidency, as he clearly is not a "natural born citizen" as required by the Constitution. Even if he was not born in Kenya, he was not born in the United States to American citizen parents, as is the prerequisite.
Numerous appeals have been taken to the high court in the last six and one half years, and the justices have run from their shadow like Punxsutawney Phil on Goundhog Day, not wanting to confront this requirement of the Constitution. The definition of natural born citizen is not just an Obama-problem, but today, in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential elections, a "problem" that would also disqualify Sen. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio from running for the office. Because this presents a dilemma for both parties, no Supreme Court justice will touch the issue – which is disgraceful.
Indeed, I once approached Justice Antonin Scalia at an event in Los Angeles where he was the keynote speaker. When I politely asked him what was the meaning of natural born citizen in the Constitution, he almost choked. He finally, after stuttering a bit, said disingenuously that he did not know. And Scalia is thought to be a scholar and purist when it comes to interpreting the Holy Grail of the Constitution. Rather than confronting this important criterion to be president that would remove Obama from office, he exited stage left. To wade in would not be kosher in the porkish world of the nation's capital, where social standing and politics take precedence.
There are many other examples of the political corruption of our Supreme Court, such as its failure to address the Orwellian surveillance of federal spy agencies. This is because the establishment in both political parties could care less.
So on this Memorial Day weekend, I found myself "Talking Out Loud," much like Ed Shearan's new love song – which for me also relates to my love of country – that the Supreme Court building should at least be removed from the nation's capital to its Philadelphia birthplace in honor of where freedom was born and the Constitution enacted. Even if the justices are political animals, at least there they could then be somewhat insulated from the corrupt daily influences of Washington, D.C.'s, equivalent of "the Court of Louis XVI."
Let us move forward and start the process this Memorial Day to pay homage to our rich heritage and demand that our representatives take steps to relocate the Supreme Court to Independence Hall, where our nation was born and furthered by God-given enlightened men, many of whom died so that we could have a functioning Constitution and rule of law.
© Larry Klayman
As I head to my native city and birthplace of Philadelphia to visit with my family and pay my respects to the place where our nation was born at the cost of many lives this Memorial Day, it caused me to think about the state of affairs in our legal system. Of course, you know me well enough to understand my general lack of respect for many judges and lawyers who infest the courthouses around the country. The former are mostly political hacks, chosen either through presidential and senatorial patronage, as is the case in the federal system, or elected thanks to large contributions from big law firms, labor unions and special interests, as is true in most states. In short, the legal profession doesn't even come close to living up to the high ethical and competency standards envisioned by our Founding Fathers when our Declaration of Independence and later Constitution were conceived of and signed in the City of Brotherly Love.
Philadelphia was the first capital of our new nation, forged in the blood of Gen. George Washington's brave colonial soldiers who defeated the British crown, above all odds, to bring freedom to our shores. It was Founding Father and our second American president, John Adams, who proclaimed in 1776 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia that we would be a nation of laws and not men. And, along with its special place in history, Independence Hall – which I visit each time I return home (for me it's like going to church, especially since our Founding Father's were divinely blessed by God) – was where the concept was conceived of and the reality of a U.S. Supreme Court was enacted by way of the Judiciary Act of 1789.
The Supreme Court, 226 years after its creation, is of course now located in Washington, D.C., right across from the U.S. Capitol. Its nine justices, chosen by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, are an integral part of the sleazy Washington, D.C., establishment. As a result, they hobnob with the "beautiful people" (sic!) of D.C.'s political elite class (even if it is said that Washington is the Hollywood for ugly people). They go to the White House Correspondents Dinner each year, patronize fashionable restaurants with their political benefactors picking up the tab and attend ritzy soirees in Georgetown, to mention just a few of their high-powered elite social watering holes – much like "les mignons" of King Louis XVI at Versailles.
The justices thus become deeply "marinated" in the manure of the nation's capital, where power and money, instead of the people's needs, rule the school. And that underscores one the unique flaws in our Constitution. Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, are chosen and confirmed by and large because they have sucked up to the establishment interests who pushed for their nomination and confirmation. They are generally neither the best nor the brightest in the legal profession. Instead, most of them just said and did the right things, including having their prior law firms or other special interests line the president's campaign pockets with political contributions. The commander in chief then returns the "favor" by nominating them and the U.S. Senate by confirming them.
Of course, there are exceptions, like Judges Royce C. Lamberth and Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and Supreme Court justices like Clarence Thomas.
Because Supreme Court justices hail from such political foundations, and become even more steeped in the politics of Washington, D.C., throughout their lifetime tenure (another flaw in our Constitution), they frequently bow to the interests of those that put them in power. From my own experience, this helps explain why they would not dare touch the issue of President Obama's eligibility to run for and be elected to the presidency, as he clearly is not a "natural born citizen" as required by the Constitution. Even if he was not born in Kenya, he was not born in the United States to American citizen parents, as is the prerequisite.
Numerous appeals have been taken to the high court in the last six and one half years, and the justices have run from their shadow like Punxsutawney Phil on Goundhog Day, not wanting to confront this requirement of the Constitution. The definition of natural born citizen is not just an Obama-problem, but today, in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential elections, a "problem" that would also disqualify Sen. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio from running for the office. Because this presents a dilemma for both parties, no Supreme Court justice will touch the issue – which is disgraceful.
Indeed, I once approached Justice Antonin Scalia at an event in Los Angeles where he was the keynote speaker. When I politely asked him what was the meaning of natural born citizen in the Constitution, he almost choked. He finally, after stuttering a bit, said disingenuously that he did not know. And Scalia is thought to be a scholar and purist when it comes to interpreting the Holy Grail of the Constitution. Rather than confronting this important criterion to be president that would remove Obama from office, he exited stage left. To wade in would not be kosher in the porkish world of the nation's capital, where social standing and politics take precedence.
There are many other examples of the political corruption of our Supreme Court, such as its failure to address the Orwellian surveillance of federal spy agencies. This is because the establishment in both political parties could care less.
So on this Memorial Day weekend, I found myself "Talking Out Loud," much like Ed Shearan's new love song – which for me also relates to my love of country – that the Supreme Court building should at least be removed from the nation's capital to its Philadelphia birthplace in honor of where freedom was born and the Constitution enacted. Even if the justices are political animals, at least there they could then be somewhat insulated from the corrupt daily influences of Washington, D.C.'s, equivalent of "the Court of Louis XVI."
Let us move forward and start the process this Memorial Day to pay homage to our rich heritage and demand that our representatives take steps to relocate the Supreme Court to Independence Hall, where our nation was born and furthered by God-given enlightened men, many of whom died so that we could have a functioning Constitution and rule of law.
© Larry Klayman
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
