Judicial Activism, Abortion and the Supreme Court - Essay Example

There are numerous debates intended to question the manner and extent of interpretation of the law by any judge.
By interpreting, the judge is equipped with the knowledge to decide what applies in a particular case. The decision must also be constitutional rather than a biased one. (Scalia, 1997)This is what is referred to as strict constructionism or strict constructivism. The judge must first acquire the meaning of a particular clause of the constitution and then apply it in the ruling. The use of strict constructionism is recommended where the provisions of the Constitution are unclear, ambiguous, or absurd.

On the other hand, one may view the Constitution as a self-fulfilled set of guidelines to govern any ruling. If there are no ambiguous or the clarity of the provisions is spot on, the judges are expected to strictly apply the exact meaning in the ruling. (Forte, 1972) One of the issues that arise with the interpretation of the Constitution by the judges is an expansion of the laws through implications. Justice, reason, and fairness may fail to materialize if the judges fail to restrain the expansion of the law through implication.

Abortion has been one of the most contentious and sensitive issues for some time. Judicial involvement is rampant and the most publicly highlighted case is the Roe v.Wade case. The outcome of this case was the declaration of access abortion as being a fundamental right of any woman upon determination of fetal viability. (Craig, 1993) Consequently, the conditions determining fetal viability became very conflicting. Up to now, different states continue to set up rulings concerning abortion due to their definition of the term “fetal viability”.

For instance, the Supreme Court is under intense pressure to rethink the legal conditions as to when an abortion can be performed. Various petitions have been raised by different states prompting the judicial system to re-evaluate its position as expressed in the Roe vs. Wade case. In this case, I tend to think that the decision of the justices can be predicted. The decision will likely change depending on the latest information regarding fetal viability. The justices would be more inclined to use the provided information to interpret the earlier documented law about abortion. The issue of prejudgement surfaces contrary to the idea stating that no case is prejudged. The aspect of interpretation rather than the application of the constitution has an immense contribution.

The Supreme Court was put into the spotlight in 2012 on the issue of the use of race in university admissions. This was prompted by the Fisher vs. University of Texas case. The University of Texas has a program that regulates the admission of freshmen based on race. The review by the Supreme Court is in progress. The court decision can be prejudged. This is so because of the underlying need to interpret diversity in learning institutions. This is contrary to the view that no case is prejudged. Read More