Tomorrow is October — the name of the eighth month of the year in the ancient Roman calendar. Octo (in Latin) means eight. When the Romans converted to a 12-month calendar, the name October stuck, even though it’s now the 10th month.
October is noted for Halloween at the end of the month. But this year, more than most, the first Monday of October is probably on most everyone’s mind because the Supreme Court starts its new term. The first Monday of October has marked the start of the Court’s annual sessions since 1917. In case you’re interested, the Court’s start date is mandated by a law passed by Congress. The 1916 law moved the Court term’s start date from the second Monday in October to the first Monday in October. Initially, the Supreme Court held two sessions every year — but how they got to just the one is the subject for another blog post….
Each year a new volume of a textbook on American political theory and practice is published. The textbook is written by a committee of nine members and the committee convenes on the first Monday in October every year to begin drafting the next volume. The textbook is the collected opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States.
On Monday, the Supreme Court will assemble in Washington to commence its 2018-19 term. Next summer, a new volume in the series of textbooks on American government will be published. Will the new textbook, reflecting the committees work, be better next year? No one knows for sure, but probably not. This term, maybe even more so than the last term, the picture of our constitutional system will be muddled and unclear. Principles will be modified or adjusted to fit the facts of particular cases.
The events of the last few days gives us all reason to worry that the Supreme Court will continue to be a body to interpret the Constitution, setting politics aside.
Justice Elena Kagan this past week stated…”The court’s strength as an institution of American governance depends on people believing it has a certain kind of legitimacy — on people believing it’s not simply just an extension of Politics, that its decision making has a kind of integrity to it.”
Let’s hope the Court keeps this in mind when writing the 2018-19 volume of the book…..
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