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Ask Auntie Pinko
April 3, 2003

Dear Auntie Pinko,

I am being told that only liberals try to change policy and law through lawsuits instead of doing it through the courts.

Can you give me some examples of conservatives who have done such a thing?

Cory,
Whose home is the Internet


Dear Cory,

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking. When you say "through lawsuits instead of through the courts," I can't figure out how the courts would be involved without a lawsuit. For the most part, courts don't rule on matters unless they are presented via a lawsuit initially. Higher courts may rule on appeal, but that means that some court initially ruled on a suit.

Perhaps you mean, "through lawsuits and the courts, instead of through the legislature?" This is an issue that is often discussed among liberals and conservatives both.

Who on earth is telling you that only liberals try to change policy and law through lawsuits, and where have they been that they haven't heard of the University of Michigan case? Conservatives have always tried to use the courts to roll back social progress, just as liberals attempt to use the courts to make social progress.

When Mr. Pat Robertson's organization files a lawsuit trying to overturn San Francisco's domestic partnership law, he and his followers are trying to change policy and law through lawsuits. When the American Center for Law and Justice (a conservative group) files suit against the City of Newburyport for removing commemorative bricks with religious messages on them from a public walkway, they are trying to change policy and law through lawsuits.

What intrigues Auntie Pinko about your question, Cory, is the implication behind such assertions - specifically, the implication that using lawsuits to change public policy is necessarily a bad thing. I'm not at all sure that is the case. In fact, I think the availability of the courts as a resource for citizens trying to shape our political, economic, and social destiny is something that we should cherish. It's something in which we should take pride, as a society that enables political self-determination for its citizenry.

By giving us three branches of government, our Constitution gives us three avenues, as citizens, to put our aspirations for the best possible society into law. While the legislative branch is the most direct route, and we should always try to start there when a change needs to be made, it can't always accomplish what we want. There will always be corruption in every branch of government, but by having three branches, we give ourselves a safety net - not every branch will always be corrupt in the same degree or the same way.

And there are other reasons why we need multiple routes for citizens to effect change. The Executive and Legislative branches of our government are elected by a majority vote. But there have been times in our nation's history when a majority of the citizens voting did not necessarily have good public policy or even moral justification on their side. A large number of my neighbors were denied the right to vote for many years, because a majority of the citizens who could vote didn't want them to vote.

We should never stop working to make every branch of government more responsive to the needs and wishes of all of our citizens. We should never stop being vigilant against corruption. But we should never limit the access of citizens, no matter how small the minority they represent, or how removed from the mainstream their views might be, to the courts as a recourse for changing policy by interpreting law in the light of our Constitution.

So, do liberals "use" the courts to "advance an agenda?" Goodness, yes, of course! Do conservatives? They certainly do! And in both cases, Auntie Pinko says, "Good for them, that's part of what keeps America a free country!"

Remember, your "frivolous" lawsuit is my deeply-held conviction about what is right and wrong. The cost of maintaining a viable, effective judicial system is definitely going up, as the diversity of opinions and backgrounds in our country continues to grow. But that is a legitimate cost of self-determination; of maintaining a free citizenry in a free country. Freedom is never cheap. Thanks for asking Auntie Pinko, Cory!


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