People's Weekly World Editorial

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thug ʽjusticeʼ

As a member of Young Americans for Freedom in Phoenix, Ariz., in the 1960s, William H. Rehnquist harassed Mexican Americans waiting in line to register to vote, demanding that they read sections of the U.S. Constitution in English.

Rehnquist was a right-wing thug then. As Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he is still a right-wing thug.

He wrote a decision, approved by a 5 to 4 vote and handed down May 15, which denies women the protections of the 14th Amendment that affirms that "no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property ... nor deny any person equal protection of the law."

The ruling slammed the door on civil remedy provisions of the Violence Against Women Act. The decision also negated Congressʼ use of its interstate commerce powers to protect civil rights, arguing that violence against women is not an "economic" issue.

This was another in a series of "stateʼs rights" decisions that harken back to the die-hard segregationists who denied federal authority to enforce equal rights laws. Violence against women, Rehnquist claimed, is a "local" not a "national" issue. The federal government has every right * indeed, necessity * to guarantee democracy for all.

Rehnquist ruled in the case of Christy Brzonkala, who charged that two football players at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) raped her when she was a freshman. She sued when she learned that VPI planned no disciplinary action against her assailants.

With backing from the Center for Individual Rights, a recipient of billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife largesse, the two players challenged the constitutionality of the Violence Against Women Act. The Justice Department presented voluminous proof to the high court that local authorities refuse to prosecute sex offenders, thus requiring a federal statute.

The National Organization for Women has called for nationwide protests against this outrageous ruling. If elected president, NOW warns, Republican George W. Bush will pack the federal courts with Rehnquist clones.