By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
Frankly, I’m not sure I understand some of this year’s momentous decisions by SCOTUS (news media abbreviation for Supreme Court of the United States).
As predicted, the high court’s most controversial decisions came down on 6-3 votes with the conservative majority sticking together to help either the Sultan of Mar-A-Lago or the Florida Flash get elected to the White House in 2024.
And it was discouraging to see No. 45 boldly — and accurately — taking credit for appointing the three newest justices with obvious right-wing biases.
Starting with last year’s reversal of Roe V. Wade on abortion, the Gang of Six ignored the inhumanity of not allowing exceptions in pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
The decision to ban race considerations in college admissions throws away 50 years of progress in promoting diversity in higher education as shown by the higher number of persons of color being admitted to all types of colleges. Also, that case apparently made Justice Clarence Thomas forget his history as a black man.
Tossing out President Biden’s promise to forgive $400 billion in student loan debt was right in my opinion because Congress is responsible for our country’s finances. And it ignores the growing default rates on student loans, mainly by those who borrowed more than they needed.
However, I do believe the Biden Administration and Congress need to find a way to extend repayments so that a student loan payment is not higher than the mortgage payment on someone’s home.
Wiping out large chunks of debt for 43 million persons is not fair to those who have already paid off their loans or didn’t have student debt for whatever reason.
But that decision could have national political implications next year because 26 million persons had already signed up for the debt relief. Will they blame the obviously Republican-leaning high court or the likely GOP candidate who appointed three of the right-wing jurists?
Meanwhile, who is going to explain ethical standards again to Justices Thomas and Alito when they fill out this year’s financial disclosure forms?
(Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com).