WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 5, 2018 13
SOUNDING OFF ON
SUPREME COURT
DECISIONS
As reported, Supreme Court Justice
Anthony Kennedy announced that he
will retire on July 31. This gives President
Donald Trump the opportunity
to nominate a true conservative to the
Supreme Court. Although the Democrats
would like this to occur aft er the
midterm elections, I hope President
Trump gets his way and this occurs
sooner than later.
One fear that some have is this
could mean the repeal of Roe v. Wade,
a decision that was the legalization of
abortion. I would applaud the repeal
because in my opinion I believe all
life is sacred from conception to the
grave. I believe in what the Declaration
of Independence states: “We hold
these truths to be self-evident that all
men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their creator with certain
unalienable rights that among
them is life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.”
Why are the unborn not aff orded
these same rights?
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
The Workmen’s Circle condemns
the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold
the narrative of hatred, bigotry
and exclusion that is inherent in the
president’s travel ban from primarily
Muslim countries.
As Jews, we know all too well the
dangers of closing our borders to
refugees. Less than a century ago it
was Jews trapped in Eastern Europe
with the United States denying them
safe haven.
Last week, the Supreme Court upheld
the president’s right to issue an
order that will eff ectively serve as a
death sentence to thousands of desperate
refugees from Sudan, Syria, Chad,
Yemen and others, who have viewed
America as their last hope.
This is a shameful day for the United
States, as SCOTUS allowed our government
to send an indelible message to
the world around us that we are no
longer a country of hope and freedom
for all.
We stand with our Muslim brothers
and sisters, and pledge to join in the
fi ght against President Trump’s actions
to close our Borders to Muslims,
to Mexicans, to South and Central
Americans. Today we reaffi rm our
commitment to fi ght at every turn for
what is fundamental to our democracy:
there must be no discrimination on
the basis of religion and our country
must remain a sanctuary to all seeking
a safe and better life.
Ann Toback, Executive Director,
The Workmen’s Circle
When Winston Churchill was told
that his postwar defeat might be a
“blessing in disguise,” he replied, “At
the moment it seems quite eff ectively
disguised.” That might be the view of
public employee unions aft er the Supreme
Courts’ Janus decision regarding
bargaining rights for municipal
workers. But the disguise in this case
is see-through.
Battle lines are drawn and the
unions, carrying the banner for
all middle-class Americans, know
where they stand. Now there’s no
mistaking or leaving on the back
burner of consciousness, what
defines them. The Supreme Court
has reset their “GPS” and they know
where they must go and how to get
there.
There will be an indomitable spirit
in the air with a dead-serious complement
of hard-nosed strategy on
the ground. Tools and tactics will be
deployed on all fronts as befits the
context and provocations of struggle.
Unions have endured existential
threats in the past and not merely
survived, but flourished and triumphed,
though sometimes after
traumatic retreats that had at fi rst
enervated them. The Supreme Court
ruling has constructed a steep new
mountain for unions to climb, but
though they will break a sweat, they
will position their fl ag deep into its
earth at the top.
Those irrational Justices with their
impeccable legal arguments may
render binding verdicts that must be
obeyed even when disrespected. But
the soul and resolution that gives
unions their power and moral authority
are impervious to them.
It cannot be dissolved or repudiated
by the misfi red torpedo of Janus.
Ron Isaac, Fresh Meadows
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