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Letter: Court opponent would politicize judicial branch

Friday, April 5, 2002 | 3:18 a.m.

Maurice Murphy's April 1 letter, calling for an end to the lifetime appointments of U.S. Supreme Court justices, leads the casual reader astray. He claims, "There is little hope of reversing a badly flawed decision by the high court." To challenge that statement, one only needs to look at Brown v. Board of Education overturning Plessy v. Ferguson -- school integration instead of school segregation; Amendments 12, 13, and 14 voiding the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision, which declared slaves property; and Woodson v. North Carolina clarifying the court's death penalty ruling in Furman v. Georgia.

Murphy also states, "What does it take to initiate a reform so badly needed?" It will take a constitutional amendment to accomplish the goal Murphy seeks. A monumental task requiring a two-thirds vote of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures.

I feel Murphy's suggestion will only further politicize the least political of the three branches of government. This is one situation where the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies.

ROBERT BENCIVENGA

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