OPINION:
In Articles I and III, the Constitution gives Congress complete power over lower courts. Justice Alito ignores this when he insists attempts to impose an ethics code on the court would be unconstitutional (“Justice Sotomayor’s lack of ‘respect’: Justices stew as high court opens new term,” Web, Oct. 1). Alito has also failed to mention that a simple majority opinion by the Supreme Court can neuter unalienable rights to “life, liberty or property” protected by the fifth and 14th amendments.
Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution holds that “the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.” Does that mean Congress can make a law that requires a unanimous vote of Supreme Court justices to infringe on unalienable rights (e.g., abortion or guns)?
Former President Obama — having spent 12 years as an instructor at the University of Chicago Law School teaching a course in the due process and equal protection areas of constitutional law — should be able to tell voters whether Congress has power over the Supreme Court.
JOE BOYETT
Montgomery, Alabama
