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From: ekwok@mipos3.UUCP (Edward C. Kwok)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion,net.legal
Subject: Re: Interesting legal issues
Message-ID: <201@mipos3.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 30-Sep-86 14:45:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: mipos3.201
Posted: Tue Sep 30 14:45:51 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 2-Oct-86 20:29:09 EDT
References: <752@oswego.UUCP>
Reply-To: ekwok@mipos3.UUCP (Edward C. Kwok)
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Organization: Intel, Santa Clara, CA
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Xref: linus talk.abortion:46 net.legal:4895

In article <752@oswego.UUCP> gacs3651@oswego.UUCP (Robert Knighton) writes:
>
>	Recently I read an interesting piece written by a lawyer about the 
>constitutional legality of the decisions of the supreme court becoming the
>law of the land.  Given as evidence were three decisions handed down since
>1957.  These are:
>
>	 1. Brown v. Board of Education (1957) [Mandatory desegregation],
>	 2. The Madeline Murray O'Hare case (1963) [No prayer in schools],
>	 3. Roe v. Wade (1973)  [Legalized abortions on demand].
>

>	Now if these decisions ARE invalid as the law of the land, then we
>need to act and make sure that they are either upheld or withdrawn from
>public law.  As far as I can tell (and I'm no attorney) precedent is useful
>in civil or criminal cases, but not in questions of constitutionality.  I am 
>a citizen of this country and proud of it.  I just can't sit here and let

Justice John Marshall, some time very early in the history of the union,
declared that it was the duty of the court to declare "what the law is".
That is, the only laws that are certified to be constitutional are those
"created" by the supreme court. The court, of course, interprets the
constitution which is the supreme law of the land. It's interpretation
is by definition legal, and is final until the court changes it's mind.
The court respects its own decisions to a certain extent, the doctrine pf
staris decisis (Sp?), and does not change its mind too often. That's
probably why Roe is still the law of the land.
-- 

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