I received an e-mail from a Tea Partier urging me to write the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States asking them to find ObamaCare to be unconstitutional. I had never thought of writing the Supreme Court Justices previously on any issue as it seems the Constitution is quite clear on the role of government in our lives. Thus, it would be folly to expect a member of this panel to be swayed by my impassioned plea.
However, I made the trip to the Supreme Court’s web site. What a disappointment that (likely 20 million dollar) web site is. Sections don’t overlay their background properly, calendar gives novice error messages, and colors make certain text nearly unreadable. It’s clear that this web site was created with Obama Stimulus money.
But, the biggest disappointment is the entries on the calendar – or lack thereof. As I write, we are in the 153rd day of the year on June 1st, 2012 – 41.9% of the way through the year. To date, the Supreme Court has heard oral arguments on – wait for it – 27 days. 27 days.
On the day I visited the Supreme Court in 2010 and happened to get inside to witness 5 minutes of the arguments, they were done by noon. I don’t think they started at 6:00am, but let’s assume they started at 8:00. We’ll pretend they hear arguments for 4 hours per argument day. That means of the 153 days of 2012, they have used 2.9% of the available hours to hear arguments. If we assume a hard working 10 hour day, then they’ve only heard arguments on 7% of the hours available (I seem to work every weekend).
I realize there is much to do with each argument held on each case reviewed. The process of selecting cases for judicial attention is a gauntlet. But, 27 days.
To the urgings of my fellow Tea Partier’s, I did not find a method of directly contacting the Justices. There is an address for general mail, but I do not get the idea that my logical arguments on any case will be under the Justices’ consideration… …which is probably the way things should be.
Can you imagine a country where laws are upheld based on the number of letters received in the mailbox? Or, angry crowds surrounding the court house threatening upheaval if a case is decided against their wishes.
But, alas, here is their general mailing address:
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543
