CRUELTY. The HERETIC Roberts “court” has, by its action, inactions, rhetoric, allowed and encouraged cruelty to afflict Americans. Decisions and non-decisions range from”small” to major. Once again, this “court” failed the American people in that it has NOT “insure[d] domestic Tranquility nor promote[d] the general Welfare. Innocent people have been wronged. Americans live in fear. Corruption ravages democracy and the American Dream>
*** “If the misery of others leaves you indifferent and with no feeling of sorrow, then you cannot be called a human being.” [Jimmy Carter]
1] Dictionary definitions of CRUEL: willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others. Synonyms: merciless, pitiless, ruthless; cruel implies willingness to cause pain and indifference to suffering; ruthless implies cruelty and unscrupulous, letting nothing stand in one’s way, and using any methods necessary.
*** “Whoever has shown no mercy shall have judgment without mercy.” [James 2: 12-13]
2]. “Ledbetter”. To BEGIN understanding the Roberts “court” indifference to suffering, start with “Ledbetter” [2007]. This case perfectly illustrated the PATTERN of “winners” and “losers.” Research the case, the decision, the outrage in America from that decision, and the Congressional reaction and remedy.
*** “Some things are not forgivable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable.” [Tennessee Williams]
3]. “Walmart v. Dukes” [2011]. Begin with Erwin Chemerinsky’s “The Case Against the Supreme Court”: “The Court came to this conclusion despite the fact..the plaintiffs presented a great deal of evidence to show..Walmart had company-wide practices and policies that caused sex discrimination..statistical studies..expert witnesses..large number of affidavits..it is striking..the Supreme Court consistently ignores this legislative objective and repeatedly construes the statutes to favor business.” [Preamble: U.S. gov’t created to “promote the general Welfare,” NOT corporations]
*** “Evil begins when you treat people as things.” [Terry Pratchatt]
4]. Garrett Epps, “The Court’s Third Great Crisis”, Washington Monthly, Nov-Dec, 2022
– “Well before Dobbs was even argued, it was clear that gutting abortion rights would cause chaos and suffering..it was clear, neither government officials, medical professionals, nor pregnant woman themselves were prepared for the changes a wholesale rejection of Roe would make in obstetric care, maternal health, and..maternal survival.”
[dictionary definition of cruelty: willfully or knowingly causing pain and distress in others]
*** “Some cruel people..seem not to feel anything..A lack of what is judged appropriate feeling..for the plight of the individual whose suffering they cause.” [Tom Regan]
5] “A Wrongfully convicted man must die..to preserve procedure?”, Bryan Clark, Idaho Statesman, 6/12/22
– “..another opinion, both cruel and absurd, issued by the Republican supermajority deserves attention..This is the decision released last month, “Shinn v. Martinez Ramierez,” which is likely to result in the execution of an innocent man…And not because the court has weighed the evidence for and against guilt.. The court is pushing to execute him because it says the evidence showing he is innocent should not be considered at all..The current state of the evidence against Jones is so poor that a federal judge found no judge or jury would likely convict him of any crime..in a prior ruling, a more sane U.S. Supreme Court found..Arizona’s appeal had gaping procedural deficiency of its own.. But this court decided to exercise its discretion to set the procedural hurdle aside..The necessary boxes have been checked, and so it’s time to kill a man. It is as inhuman as it sounds.”
[now – REREAD this. Which is the ‘poster boy’ for Roberts “court” cruelty: this case, Ledbetter, Walmart-Dukes ???]
***”Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on earth.” [Roberto Clemente – who died in a plane crash carrying help to disaster survivors]
6] “Despite dangerous complications, pregnant women denied abortions”, Laura Ungar, Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press, 12/4/22
– “A growing number of physicians and families tell similar stories..Pregnant women with dangerous medical conditions are showing up at hospitals and doctor’s offices only to be denied the abortions that could help treat them..” “How close to death must a patient be?” ..Despite the risks of infection and blood loss, she couldn’t get an abortion..She drove 4 1/2 hours from home – while in labor – and had the procedure…She got her tubes tied.”
[“willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others”]
*** “Cruelty, is perhaps, the worst kind of sin, intellectual cruelty is certainly the worst kind of cruelty.” [Colbert K. Chesterton]
7]. CHARACTER
a] “Leave My Disability Out Of Your Propaganda”, Kendall Ciesemier, New York Times, 8/2/22
– “Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a 2007 opinion for the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit, affirmed the government interest in forcing two disabled people to have abortions, saying that “accepting the wishes of the patients who lack [and always have lacked] the mental capacity to make medical decisions does not make legal sense and would cause erroneous medical decisions.”
b] “Justice” Gorsuch. Research Gorsuch’s pre-Court career; specifically the “Frozen Trucker” verdict, which he lost. Read what Gorsuch said, especially “it wasn’t my job.” Then return to definitions of “cruel.”
c] “Justice” Alito. Research his government career. In his confirmation hearing he said he “had no agenda.” How many people believe that now? The New York times reported Alito promised Senator Kennedy “Roe” was firm and he wouldn’t attack it.
d] “Justice” Scalia. He was an arrogant man. In his mind, on anything, he was “right” and YOU were wrong by definition. He alienated 3 Supreme Court justices so much they often worked against him – to America’s benefit. His insistence on his interpretation of the Constitution – “originalism” – which the Founders themselves rejected.
e] “Justice” Thomas. is an angry and bitter man; has invented a number of bogus theories and interpretations of the Constitution – in the name of “originalism.” “..Thomas ..vowed on the day of his confirmation, at age forty-three, that he intended to spend the next forty-three years..as a Supreme Court justice. It would take that long, he told friends, to get even.” [“Strange Justice”, Jane Mayer & Jill Abramson. page 360]
***”All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness.” [Tennessee Williams]
8]. “Risks to Patients as Doctors Deal With Abortion Exceptions”, David Goodman & Azeen Ghorayshi, New York Times, 7/21/22
– “All of us know some of them will die,” Dr. Alireza A. Shamshirsaz, an obstetrician, about delayed treatment and the danger to patients…The fetus would not be viable outside the womb..The hospital sent her home to wait for signs of infection or labor…The option to terminate the pregnancy has long part of the standard care…suffered because they were not allowed to end their pregnancies…One woman required a hysterectomy..all but one of the pregnancies ended with the death of the fetus. “So why did they put them through that?”…”We sent the patient home against her will.”
[“ALL OF US KNOW SOME OF THEM WILL DIE…SO WHY DID WE PUT THEM THROUGH THAT?”]
*** “It is usually when men are at their most religious that they behave with the least sense and the greatest cruelty.” [Ilka Chase}. *****Note” for more perspective, read Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil” – and “The Five Warning Signs Of Corruption In Religion” – and go back to the definitions of cruelty abov]
9] Erwin Chemerinsky: “The Conservative Assault on the Constitution”
– “Iqball” [2009]. the “court” ruled, 5-4, the complaint should be dismissed because he failed to allege sufficient facts for a court to conclude it was “plausible” he might win, “no longer did courts have to accept the allegations of the complaint as true, conclusory allegations of fact should be ignored by federal courts..a “radical” decision, every sample complaint in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure would have to be dismissed.” [throw out the rules!!!! the Roberts “court” knows better]
*** “Great is the mischief of a legal crime.” [R.W. Emerson – on the Fugitive Slave law]
10] United States v. Higgs, Sotomayor dissent..”Her project was to make as precise a record as possible of the court’s behavior..[executions of last 6 months vs last 6 decades]. “The Court has even intervened to lift stays of execution that lower courts put in place, ensuring those prisoner”s challenges would never receive a meaningful hearing. The Court made these weighty decisions in response to emergency applications, with little opportunity for proper briefing and consideration, often in just a few short days or even hours. Very few of these decisions offered any public explanation for their rationale. This is not justice.” [return to item #5 above – executing an innocent man]
*** “The best index to a person’s character is [a] how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and [b] how he treats people who can’t fight back.” [Abagail Van Buren}
11] Then please reconsider”
a]. the cruelty of “Citizens United” – which by all factual accounts has led to at least the doubling of corporate “campaign donations,” and who knows how much “Dark Money” [Jane Mayer]. This cruelty is the acceptance and “normalization” of allowing the most rich and powerful to disproportionately set the rules for “democratic” discussion and governance.
b] the cruelty of “Heller” and subsequent lies about what the Second Amendment really says – by the rules of English grammar, by the written intent of the founders, by 5 previous Supreme Court rulings. AMERICANS NOW LIVE IN FEAR. NOWHERE in America is safe. K-college kids are afraid to go to school. Tens of thousands are traumatized EVERY year. Armed men show up at public meetings. No other “civilized” nation endures such domestic terror.
c] the cruelty of “Shelby County” in denying American citizens an equal right to vote. The opinion announcing this infamous decision was a LIE. Within 24 hours, previously unconstitutional practices began. Compounded by this “court’s’ refusal to outlaw gerrymandering – known for 200 years to be a corrupt practice.
d]. the cruelty of being denied access to court to pursue suits against the most powerful business organizations. The right to use courts in the Bill of Rights vetoed by a Roberts “court” winner – big business.
e] the cruelty of attacks on government’s ability to function, and to solve pressing public interest problems. “Little” people, the kind who can’t afford multi-million dollar “campaign contributions” need government to protect them from big business – so, they are programmed to lose by Roberts “court” hidden rules.
*** “The trouble with {Adolf} Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted or sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal..” [Hannah Arendt}
With Justice For All 