It has been the contention that, in order to escape from politicized decisions, citizens must resort to litigation. I share the conclusions of many other political observers that the law, especially constitutional law, is simply politics by other means. Judges decide cases on the basis of the results they favor and then select the legal criteria or precedents to justify and make persuasive the results they have already chosen.
Judges as political actors have political ideas like the rest of us and use judicial opinions to express them. All one has to do is re view the history of the United States Supreme Court on the issue of slavery and race relations to understand how the US Constitution has been interpreted in very contradictory ways.
In the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in 1857 Dred Scott vs. Sanford, it was ruled that slaves were not citizens of any state in the United States. This decision was overturned by ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868.
In 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson , the Court ruled that a state law requiring federal railroad trains to provide separate but equal facilities for black and white passengers neither infringed nor violated the 14th Amendment. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that separate public schools for blacks and whites were inherently unequal and violated the equal protection guarantee of the 14th Amendment.
It took the US Supreme Court 86 years before it finally issued a “correct” interpretation of the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection for blacks and whites.
In 1973, Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that during the first trimester of pregnancy it was the decision of the woman whether to have an abortion or not. Republican candidates for president routinely promise that they will appoint judges who will overturn or reverse this same ruling not on the basis of law but on the basis of their political and moral beliefs.
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We Filipinos have been accused that we often forgive so easily and that we even forgive those who do not seek our forgiveness. But I have faith that the Filipino people will, in the end, rally to the side that represents social justice and equal opportunity for all.
Dr. Elfren S. Cruz is a professor of Strategic Management at the MBA Program, Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University. Please send comments or questions to elfrencruz@gmail.com
