Federal Judge Tells Supreme Court to "STFU" After Hobby Lobby
Richard George Kopf is a federal judge in Nebraska's U.S. District Court. He was appointed by George H.W. Bush in 1992, and he's been running a personal blog called Hercules and the Umpire for about a year. In one recent post, he told the Supreme Court to shut the fuck up.
The closing of the post, titled "Remembering Alexander Bickel's passive virtues and the Hobby Lobby cases," reads:
Next term is the time for the Supreme Court to go quiescent–this term and several past terms has proven that the Court is now causing more harm (division) to our democracy than good by deciding hot button cases that the Court has the power to avoid. As the kids says, it is time for the Court to stfu.
Kopf links to an Urban Dictionary definition in case his meaning isn't clear.
1) Acronym used for the phrase "shut the fuck up" for efficiency reasons.
Please stfu because I am trying to read.
The judge takes issue with the Court's decision to hear the Hobby Lobby case at all, arguing that it should ignore very controversial cases when it can. He elaborates:
The Hobby Lobby cases illustrate why the Court ought to care more about Alexander Bickel's "passive virtues"–that is, not deciding highly controversial cases (most of the time) if the Court can avoid the dispute.** What would have happened if the Supreme Court simply decided not to take the Hobby Lobby cases? What harm would have befallen the nation? What harm would have befallen Hobby Lobby family members who would have been free to express their religious beliefs as real persons? Had the Court sat on the sidelines, I don't think any significant harm would have occurred. The most likely result is that one or more of the political branches of government would have worked something out. Or not. In any event, out of well over 300 million people, who would have cared if the law in different Circuits was different or the ACA's contraception mandate was up in the air?
Anyone who disagrees can gtfo, tbh.
