The Roiling of the Supreme Court — Looking Back and Forward
Impeach Chief Justice Earl Warren
Earl Warren is now regarded as one of the great Supreme Court leaders of the twentieth century. He was not a shrewd constitutional lawyer, but he was a politician who could straddle both sides of the fence and find a compromise, or lead through the power of persuasion. He was the last elected politician to serve on the court.
Earl Warren ran in both Democratic and Republican primaries for the nomination for Governor of California. He served three terms as governor, positioning himself as a nonpartisan who could work with both parties. The electorate liked and rewarded him. He got things done.
He got things done at the Supreme Court, too, steering the court to unanimous decisions over such contentious issues as the integration of schools. The Supreme Court expanded individual liberties. Warren’s understanding of the Constitution was how it should be interpreted for today’s issues.
This understanding is markedly different from the idea of the originalist reading of the Constitution, which was what did the founders mean in 1787. The originalist reading is a strategy promoted by Judge Antonin Scalia and cited by several recent appointees.
