The U.S. Constitution Day is on September 17, and this year I was able to attend a lecture by Dr. John Domino, a professor of political science here at Sam Houston State University. The topic of his lecture was civil rights and liberties how since about the 1960's the Supreme Court of the United States has acted as a tribunal in cultural issues. One example he used was the issue of the 2nd amendment and gun control laws, this issue is an example of a "culture war" as he put it, pitting conservatives against liberals, democrats against republicans, and the urban population against rural. This issue can't be solved in the political sphere, therefore it is up to the Supreme Court to make rulings, forcing it to pick sides, either one way or another. But the S.C. does not like to do this, and he explains the idea of "split the difference" decisions, where the court tries not to please one side or the other. One example he uses of this is that it was ruled unconstitutional to meet racial quotas in public schools, but on the other hand was ruled okay to let race be a factor when applying for colleges. Other issues that he considered to be cultural divides are religion in public, religion in policy, non-assimilation, homosexuality, affirmative action, and hate speech as part of a 1st amendment right. His lecture was very interesting and gave me a new perspective on how the Supreme Court effects our lives as citizens of this country.
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