The judge and me

I’ve lamented how badly the present generations and our nation will suffer from not understanding our government and Constitution that made our nation the most envied in the world.

I have come close to actually raving about the lack of meaningful civics education and the failure of our public education system to provide the most basic exposure on how and why our nation was founded as a democratic republic of laws.

For me, this failure is nothing less than a national disgrace. And those responsible for removing such invaluable education are better off choosing another line of employment.

I never attended law school, though I did take a business law class at UCA back in the Mesozoic Age. However, I did read that I do have an imminently qualified federal barrister in agreement with, of all folks, a journalist.

Chief Judge Lavenski Smith of the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals spoke at the Little Rock Mosaic Templars Cultural Center on both the importance of not playing “political football” with the judiciary system as well as the woeful lack of indepth and effective education on government and basic constitutional rights.

Born and raised in Hope, the widely respected Smith earned his bachelor’s and juris doctor degrees from the University of Arkansas.

In his lecture “Preserving Democracy in Times of Chaos: The Critical Importance of an Independent and Strong Judiciary,” Smith said his goal was to rekindle meaningful public understanding of the nature of government.

He was quoted by reporter Stephen Simpson as saying our government originally was “designed in such a way that it could have the flexibility to improve as its people modified its rules.”

The news account said the judge emphasized the vital role of an independent, strong judiciary toward assuring separation of powers. And he spoke on the history of our Constitution.

He also described monumental judicial mistakes such as the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, which declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional because the Fifth Amendment prohibited Congress from depriving individuals of private property without due process. That made slaves property, not humans.

“The constitution itself was intended to create … a more perfect union,” Smith told the audience. “It certainly has improved, but there is much ground to yet cover, but we have something extraordinary in these United States. We ought to do what we can to learn how we got it to be what it is, and have a strong desire to see it’s maintained for the benefit of our children and our grandchildren and their children.”

Then he got to the point that has had me upset: The role of education (and lack thereof) is critically important.

He said effective civics education has been largely removed from classrooms, which means so many kids grow up knowing very little if anything about the nation’s founding and its principles.

“Our rights belong to us, the people. If we don’t teach that, our kids grow up thinking our rights came from the government and that … everything that they are able to receive is because the government might be nice enough to let me have some,” Smith said.

That’s just not what America was created to be, he added, and education must be a priority.

Smith addressed another pet peeve of so many Americans—activist judges who believe their role is to shape society or socially engineer rather than remaining neutral and following the law. Smith said members of the judiciary must stay in their lane and protect their independence for government to work.

“Judges are not advocates for parties or causes,” Smith said, “but should be protectors of the process of fair adjudication. Sometimes good people and good causes lose in court. It’s usually not—and should never be—because the judge didn’t like the person or the cause, but because the case simply lacked adequate pleading, proof or persuasive precedent to prevail against a better prepared opponent.”

Suppose he was talking about colleagues at the notoriously left-leaning 9th Circuit Court in California? Nah, probably not. Regardless, I say, “Alleluia, Judge. Preach it, brother!”

Shorter College President Jerome Green was quoted in the news story, saying he had escorted students to hear Smith’s remarks. “If they can see you, then they can be you,” Green told Smith at the event.

Billy Wilson, senior U.S. district judge of Eastern District of Arkansas, told our reporter, “He has an IQ that would boil water. We are real proud of him.”

While the judge and I have yet to meet, I can say when it comes to the appreciated truths he spoke the other night, I believe we must be kindred spirits when it comes to the inadequate level of civics education and the proper role of the judiciary in our society.

I also suspect my IQ would come closer to the level of my body temperature.