More than one opinion matters

Albert G. Marquis, Las Vegas

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 | 2:02 a.m.

I am astounded and appalled that Sen. Dean Heller opposes the appointment of Judge Elissa Cadish to the federal bench and that so many letters to the editor seem to praise him for that decision. In 2008, Cadish answered a question about the Second Amendment before two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the issue. At the time, there was a legitimate scholarly debate about whether the Second Amendment pertained only to militias or in fact stood for individual gun ownership. Many constitutional law professors were of the opinion that the Second Amendment pertained to militias only, and that was obviously the basis for Judge Cadish’s response.

But such a statement is not considered politically correct in the eyes of the National Rifle Association and its supporters who seek to silence any resistance to the rampant manufacture and sale of guns.

Judge Cadish expressed a legitimate point. Without this statement, presumably Sen. Heller would support her nomination because there is no dispute that she is an excellent jurist. Those who oppose her are taking the position that there is only one side to every issue: their side. We seem to have come to the point in this nation where we cannot even recognize the right of someone to disagree with us. With this attitude, many qualified individuals will be excluded from the judiciary and from political office.