What Kind Of Supreme Court Justice Do We Need?

John Jay

The first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was one of the founding fathers, John Jay. He had been president of the continental congress, fought in the Revolutionary war, served as diplomat, and was later Governor of New York. And what did this first Chief Justice feel about religions involvement in political affairs?

John Jay said, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." He also said that "Only one adequate plan has ever appeared in the world, and that is the Christian dispensation." Today court nominees are grilled for being people of Christian faith and conscience. The founders believed that was to be prefered.

John C. Marshall

The most influential Chief Justice in American history was

John C. Marshall. He served the longest term of any Chief Justice, from 1801 to 1835. No other chief justice had more influence over the role of the Court than him. The last Supreme Court Justice, William Rehnquist once said, “If you could say of any one individual that the court as an institution is the length and shadow of that individual, surely it would be John Marshall.”

He firmly established the principle of judicial review was simply stated by Marshall: "A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law." However, he also warned against using the bench to legislate new law rather than interpret the constitution. He said, “We must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding."

He understood that some would try to abuse the power of the court to try to fix every pet cause and supposed social injustice rather than just strictly interpret whether a law is constitutional or not. He warned, “The Constitution is not a panacea for every blot upon the public welfare, nor should this Court, ordained as a judicial body, be thought of as a general haven for reform movements"

So what kind of justices did the founders choose? They chose Christian men with integrity and Christian principles, who understood that they were to interpret the constitution as written not be a political activist who superimposed a certain agenda or personal view point on the constitution that was not written in by the founders. Is that the kind of Judge President Bush has nominated in Samuel Anthony Alito Jr? Will he be swayed by public opinion or will he stand on principle and judge according to the Constitution?

Exodus 23:2-3 "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit."