What is Classroom to Capitol?
A resource for social workers, instructors, and students in the areas of community organizing, policy analysis and advocacy, and organizational development--a tool in your quest for social justiceFollow Classroom to Capitol
Search This Site
SUBSCRIBE
@melindaklewis on Twitter
- I'm particularly excited about #4! brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 2 years ago
- We need all of these policies--for the middle-class, for redeeming the American Dream, and for our shared future. brookings.edu/blog/up-front/… 2 years ago
- Looking forward to talking about these ideas in Orlando with @OxUniPress this week! twitter.com/OUPEconomics/s… 2 years ago
- Talking about the book with college students is a particular joy! kansan.com/arts_and_cultu… 2 years ago
- RT @OUPPsychology: Currently in America there is a more than 30% gap in college graduation rates by family income. Find out more. #educatio… 2 years ago
Melinda Lewis
social policy, social work, advocacy, and community organizing analysis and commentary
USE AGREEMENT
All materials on this site, except those explicitly credited to other sources, are the creation and property of Melinda K. Lewis. Visitors to this site are encouraged to use these materials for their advocacy and their own learning, and may share these materials as desired to further the pursuit of social justice. The author only requests that all materials obtained from this site, including presentations, documents, and images, be credited to Melinda K. Lewis, and that others be directed to this site for additional information. No material from this site may be sold or used for any commercial purposes without the express written permission of Melinda K. Lewis.Disclaimer
Melinda Lewis takes full responsibility for the content featured directly on this blog. This site is in no way affiliated with the University of Kansas or its School of Social Welfare. The opinions and commentary contained here are those of the author alone, who makes no claim to speak on behalf of other students, faculty, or administration at the School.networked blogs
Supreme Stakes
It’s the first Monday in October.
And here’s all I really want to say:
It has been a really big year for the judicial system (Um, the ACA, anyone?), in policymaking, and (in the crystal ball that I don’t really have) I see that continuing for quite a while.
With such polarization in the legislative and executive arenas, there is a lot of ‘envelope-pushing’ these days. And, when envelopes are pushed, sometimes details can get overlooked.
Like the Constitution.
I think we’ll see a lot more anti-immigrant legislation, which, while the Supreme Court has already green-lighted many of the Arizona-style provisions, is still likely to run afoul of preemption and equal protection, in particular, in legislators’ zealousness to ‘out-anti-immigrant’ each other.
It’s easy to imagine that Kansas might be the site of a showdown over abortion rights, and that that battle could end up in court. Kansas, too, is likely to abdicate its constitutional responsibilities in education, and many states are seriously failing students of color, in particular, in ways that invite court action. Depending on what happens in the November elections, we could see another attempt at campaign finance reform legislation, which could challenge some of the findings in the Citizens United decision.
What does this mean, on this October 1st?
That social workers had better be paying close attention, not just to the decisions that courts hand down, but to the issues where they should be asked to decide, too.
We have three branches for a reason and, even though we certainly can’t guarantee the outcome when we turn to the courts, we can’t afford to ignore one of the tools at our disposal.
The stakes are high, as I imagine the founders knew they would be, and we just might need to go to court.
A lot.
Share this:
Like this:
Related