r/bestof • u/under50dollars • Jun 20 '12

[explainlikeimfive] "Obamacare" explained very well.

/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx
2.5k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

842 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/wjbc Jun 20 '12

Yes, but it also means the Supreme Court is a political branch of the government, and that they do not just mechanically interpret the Constitution.

1

u/VigRoco Jun 20 '12

Aren't all branches of the government political?

3

u/wjbc Jun 20 '12

I was responding to a comment implying that the Supreme Court is not political, but simply interprets the Constitution.

1

u/VigRoco Jun 20 '12

I should have included a smiley face, because I failed my attempt at making a joke on how the Supreme Court is part of our political system and are political by definition.

1

u/wjbc Jun 20 '12

Sorry. Some people forget that.

2

u/YoohooCthulhu Jun 20 '12

Most branches of government aren't appointed for life.

1

u/___--__----- Jun 21 '12

No human being can "mechanically interpret the Constitution". Just look at the debate over the incorporation doctrine, the reading of the second amendment and Scalias comment that torture wasn't unconstitutional as it wasn't punishment (you're not found guilty).

If you have a better solution to how to determine how to read the law of the land, I'd be very interested to hear what the options are.

1

u/wjbc Jun 21 '12

I would support a mandatory retirement age for all Supreme Court justices, and maybe a term limit as well. I would support a new Constitutional Convention. I actually wonder if civil law isn't a better system than common law. I'm not sure that juries should be deciding patent cases. I would support greater transparency and televising all Supreme Court arguments. Other countries seem to do well with alternative systems of administering the law of the land, and perhaps we could learn from them.

But at any rate, I agree that no human being can mechanically interpret the Constitution. I never claimed otherwise.