Courts, Judges, Lawyers and other riffraff

Ok, bear with me. I’ve never truly appreciated lawyers, despite how many I number among my friends. Speaking with them is usually fairly pleasant, until they drift into their legal mode and get all lawyerly on me. Then I want to throw up. At those moments I find myself recalling a rather nasty statement from Henry IV, Part 2. Shakespeare placed the words in the mouth of an unsavory character, Dick the Butcher, a supporter of the rebel, Jack Cade. Cade and his friends were a lawless group that predictably didn’t care much for laws or for those who enacted laws or passed judgment on  them. Dick the Butcher’s immortal words:

"The first thing we do is, let's kill all the lawyers."

...certainly not a very Christian sentiment. And although I'm by no means a rebellious sort, I can understand old Dick and his antipathy toward the legal profession. Of course, as an ordained deacon I cannot condone, encourage, or even sympathize with the murder of lawyers. But given the pain far too many lawyers have inflicted on far too many innocent people, Dick the Butcher's sentiment is probably held by many people today.

Speaking of today: In a 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court told the nation that President Trump's rather extensive tariff policy, designed to support U. S. diplomatic and economic policies, was unconstitutional. The President believes his tariffs were fine because they responded to a true emergency, thereby allowing him regulate trade by applying tariffs as necessary across the board. The court's majority disagreed. Of course, the liberals on the court would disagree with anything Trump favored. They're simply political hacks, not judges. (Have you ever read anything written by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, or listened to her speak? It's always painful.) But three others -- Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Barrett, and Justice Gorsuch -- joined them.

The problem with the Supreme Court, of course, is its unwillingness (or more likely, its inability) to deal with the results of a decision. The court makes and publishes its decision, and then tells all those affected that they must now deal with it. And through it all the majority prides itself on the fact that they intentionally ignore the effects of their decisions. Their decisions can have devastating effects on an economy, and even on freedom. And I suppose if one of their decisions would precipitate a world war, the court would be happy.

As I said, I don't care much for lawyers (in general) and I'm extremely happy I never even thought about law school. Maybe we should just pray for all lawyers, asking that God lead them understand that justice is far more important than law. Indeed, our laws are often among the most unjust elements of our society.

God's peace...and justice.