Poor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg! In becoming a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, she swore to
“administer justice… and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America under the [United States] Constitution…. So help me God.” — Title 28, Chapter I, Part 453, United States Code
Yet such is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s embarassment with that outmoded document that we call the Constitution — [Yes, the one that she swore to uphold] — that she had to appear this week on post-Mubarak Egypt’s national TV network to warn them:
“I would not look to the US constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary… It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done.”
Why is it that Justice Ginsburg doesn’t see her own Constitution. also, as a “fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights and an independent judiciary”? After all, Americans have enjoyed such a long and unparalled history of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness under its protections! And, by contrast, the violent protests in South Africa since 2004 have caused that country’s foremost historian and political scientist, Abahlali BaseMjondolo, to call it the most politically unstable society in the world.
Oh — but, of course, the South Africa Constitution does contain one explicit constitutional right that cannot be found anywhere in the text of the United States Constitution. In Chapter Two, Section 12,1 and 2, it specifically recognizes a guaranteed human right to kill life in the womb at any stage and without any need for any justification.
Gee! Too bad nations can’t trade players like professional athletes. Justice Ginsburg might be so much happier in South Africa! And maybe we could find some appropriate place here for Professor BaseMjondolo to serve. I don’t know much else about him but at least, unlike Justice Ginsburg, he seems to have some basic rooting in reality.
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About Ray Noble
Deus et Patria -- A Website for Americans Who Enjoy Being Catholic ... and Vice Versa.
ABOUT ME:
Retired lawyer-law professor-author. Raised in NJ, now living in Florida.
Widower and Father.
EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENTS: Summa Cum Laude, Undergrad debating scholarship, Fulbright scholarship, Campion Scholar at Oxford University, Presidential Scholar at Boston College Law School, law review editor.
DIVERSE PROFESSIONAL LIFE: Corporate lawyer, state (NJ) Deputy Atty General for Civil Rights, Law school associate professor (St. John's University), legal writer, author of guide for women at the request of the New Jersey League of Women Voters, state judiciary's chief of long range planning, state bar association's chief counsel, USIA law reform rep in Gaza and the West Bank, co-founder and overseer of 9/11 Mass Disaster relief program for World Trade Center victims.
In 2001, after 33 years of marriage and 8 children (6 living daughters), Alice, the love of my life (my high school sweetheart), died when she was only 55 years old. I still miss her deeply and always will.
But in 2002, an unexpected, new chapter began when I left the practice of law and became a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal for 3 blessed years. I served in the Hispanic apostolate and the pro-life ministry, counseling outside abortion mills in Manhattan and the Bronx. I loved the CFRs' radical commitment to poverty. I also treasured the abundant daily prayer that included Mass, the Divine Office, daily Eucharistic adoration and rosary, and both communal and private contemplative prayer.
But in 2005, while I was still in temporary vows, one of my daughters was hospitalized, with long term needs. It became clear to others and to me that my 3 years as a friar.was to become a prelude to other things.
Retiring to central Florida, I continue to see my daughter's needs as my first commitment. I also work to combat human trafficking. In my parish ministries and in my life as a single senior citizen, I try to continue the life I knew as a friar as much as I can. This website is a recent development. I hope you find it helpful and, at least occasionally, fun. I do.
Deus et Patria 