Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Winning comes at a cost for SOU ... Ashland school board chairman says Superintendent Hummel will leave his mark ... Hitting the books — and bikes ... Winning comes at a cost for SOU ... Ashland school board chairman says Superintendent Hummel will leave his mark ... Hitting the books — and bikes ... COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: Harper Lee and the Supreme Court Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” judged to be one of the most beloved novels of the 20th century, selling some 40 million copies, recently passed away. She was 89. Published in 1960, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961. Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Ala., during the late 1930s, the story is told through the eyes of a young, motherless girl, Jean Louise Finch, 6, called Scout by her family (Jem, 10; Atticus, a middle-aged Southern lawyer; and Calpurnia, their housekeeper). It is Atticus’ fundamental decency that frames the novel, a decency made most evident when he defends an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman. The solitary image of Atticus standing before an all white jury and making an appeal on Tom’s behalf is both memorable and moving. He said: “… there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal — there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller … That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States, or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable court in which we serve. But courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal … I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.” Atticus spoke those words in the context of not only the Great Depression, but in the shadow of a Supreme Court decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, that validated the “separate but equal” reality of the South, and broadened the shadow of Jim Crow across the nation for decades to come. And yet he spoke out of a profound hope and untarnished idealism that somehow, in that place, in that time, those men seated before him would transcend the endemic racism and prejudices that threaded through society and would do “their duty.” Clearly Atticus knew that it was unlikely that the white men on that jury could break free of what had become for them a social imperative: The black man was inferior to the white man. A notion that was crafted during slavery and further distilled in those decades following the Civil War and is, to our shame, still with us. Our courts are indeed flawed. Our justice system continues to grapple with the mandate to create a milieu wherein it is indeed the great “leveler” and all men are created equal. But despite the self-evident imperfections we remain still a nation of laws and not of men and women. It is our shared belief in the law that stands between us and chaos and we are reliant upon the law to save us from ourselves. The ultimate and essential arbiter of the law is the Supreme Court, the inviolable third branch of our government that should be free of the whims of politics. And yet, within hours of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the GOP declared that it would not grant a hearing to any nominee offered by President Obama, no matter how distinguished his or her record might be. They instead insisted that the November presidential election must come first, so “the people can decide.” Actually the people did decide, and elected Barack Obama, twice, and thereby vested in him the duty to make a nomination. The GOP position is crass politics and not only denigrates the court but violates the Constitution. The Republicans have cynically decided to gamble that they will win the election and then nominate and approve someone who will mirror the conservative values of Justice Scalia. Clearly the GOP views the Supreme Court not as a neutral and final arbiter of the law, but as a blunt instrument to carry out its policies, and the Republicans are prepared to obstruct the process at whatever cost. The Senate should instead do its duty. To “advise and consent” is not apostasy. Chris Honoré of Ashland is a Daily Tidings columnist. By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Feb. 29, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2016 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501