Letters to the Editor: The justices who interpret the Constitution like it’s the Bible

To the editor: UC Davis law professor Aaron Tang provides a refreshing — and enlightening — take on Supreme Court justices who proclaim absolute certainty in their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.

Their high degree of certitude parallels what we hear from religious leaders given to interpreting a far older written work — to wit, the Bible, which like the Constitution was written when women were accorded second-class status and slavery was practiced widely.

Fortunately, our Constitution is deemed subject to amendment. Thus Black slaves eventually were freed and women obtained the right to vote.

But where religious zealots proclaim the unamendable Bible to be the “inerrant word of God,” it figures that prominent faiths abided subjugation of women and racial segregation for many decades after Constitutional flaws were corrected.

Hence there is no sense in praying that our high court’s theocratically inclined majority will concede constitutional uncertainty anytime soon.

Kendra Strozyk, Cameron Park, Calif.

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To the editor: I have no quarrel with having an ethics code for all members of the judiciary, federal and state.

Rather, my criticism of Jackie Calmes’ column, “Why does Justice Alito keep making things worse for the Supreme Court?” is her unnecessary and frankly politically motivated broad-brush swipe that castigates a “right-wing supermajority that’s on a roll.”

In the same piece, Calmes castigates Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for spewing bile on colleagues, conservative or liberal. She should check the case record to dispute the lock-step brand she places on Alito’s conservative colleagues.

Calmes impugns their individual integrity, and consequently the court’s.

John Masero, Long Beach