Another example of how stupid Americans are

A new survey shows that less than one-third of the American populace is aware that rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court cannot be appealed to another court.

Such ignorance reminds me of an episode of 12 or 15 years ago when I was in a newsroom and overheard one side of a phone conversation between a young reporter and an attorney in the local prosecutor's office.

The attorney apparently had called with news that a defendant in a criminal trial had been acquitted of the charge against him. The reporter asked if prosecutors planned to appeal the acquittal to a higher court. There was a pause before the reporter asked the attorney to explain something he apparently had just mentioned, something about a legal doctrine known as "double jeopardy."

John Roberts and his activist Supreme Court

A new Washington Post-ABC poll shows that 56 percent of Americans disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that sharply restricts the ability of local school boards to use race as a consideration when making school assignments to achieve diverse student bodies.

Even most whites didn't like the 5-4 decision, which broke along right-left lines among the court's nine members.

What I find peculiar about the matter is that we haven't heard a howl from the nation's conservatives about how the court, under Chief Justice John Roberts, is such an activist group.

For decades now, it's been a conspicuous sore point among right-wingers that courts too often overrule decisions made by elected bodies. Such "judicial activism," as it's called, is to be disdained, the conservatives argue.

But in this school case, Roberts and his rightist ilk on the court, none of whom were elected to their posts, substituted their judgement for that of the elected school boards in the cities of Seattle and Louisville. Isn't that the same sort of activism that's been so loudly disparaged by conservatives?

Just asking.

Speaking of appointments to the court...

ABC says the White House is preparing itself for the possibility (but not likelihood) of a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court shortly after the current term lapses at the end of this month.

But if President Bush tries to appoint a right-wing ideologue to the high court, it's going to be tough sledding on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by Democrats, including a big bunch of liberal stalwarts.

That would be fun, wouldn't it?