My Visit to the Supreme Court Reminded Me to Appreciate the Balance of our System
By Kevin Rogers, Arizona Farm Bureau President
I had a new experience on December 8th. I was able to sit in on arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on our employer sanctions lawsuit – almost three years old.
You cannot sit in this court without having respect for the wisdom of our Founding Fathers in having three separate branches of government. We won’t have a decision until next spring, but it was fascinating to sit there: after all of the lobbying, the arguments back and forth, and the op-eds, all of the meetings with the attorneys ? in other words after the shouting it all comes down to the decision of this panel of judges, and then it is over.
The Supreme Court has no police force and no armies to enforce its decisions, and there are times, depending upon our point of view, we absolutely go bananas at some of the conclusions the court reaches. But then we go about our business and we abide by the decision. No shots fired.
You simply cannot sit in this court and not appreciate the balance we have in our system. Our Governor was present, along with our Attorney General, the sponsor of this legislation and the attorneys who first represented us.
As for the case, I cannot possibly predict the outcome ? I don’t think anyone really can. However, I was unprepared for the number of rapid-fire questions that came from the justices. As if I did not have prior confirmation, I was happy I was not a lawyer and happy that someone else was having to respond. One of the interesting questions was if the federal government is the only entity who can review I-9 forms and I-9 forms are only to be used by federal government and for no other purpose, how can the states impose further requirements?
Sitting in the courtroom, listening to arguments, pro and con, on a case we started was a highlight for me. Win or lose, we are all winners to be living in this country.
