Like most residents and immigrants alike, I have been in awe of the United States system of government. When I first moved to the US, everything seemed almost perfect. Sensible and well-managed public infrastructure, nimble and orderly law and order, well-funded public schools and libraries, a system which provided 24×7 power, water and other utilities, customer friendly banks, bright and sparkling supermarkets selling products at affordable prices, a minimum prevailing wage and government acting as a referee to the private enterprise were all I believed one could ask or expect from a system of government.
Over the years, I have seen how minor imperfections in public policy can have significant consequences and impact millions of people’s everyday lives. As I became part of American life, I wonder why one hundred percent of the kids do not finish high school in a country where high school education is free. When kids from all over the world could come to pursue education and achieve the American Dream, the kids growing up in America were left behind. How the US, with an 86% literacy rate, 76% Internet availability, and 96% Television availability, has one of the highest gun violence rates in the world. How does one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with the most advanced medical technology, struggle to provide easy and affordable health care to one hundred percent of its population, and finally, a country of immigrants continues to struggle with an acceptable immigration policy?
It has been interesting to watch how the special interest groups and wealthy individuals are empowered to block several common-sense ideas that most people agree with and accept. For example, roughly two out of three Americans support gun control, over half of all Americans support Medicare For All, and six out of ten Americans back Tuition Free College for all students. However, the American political system overrides these majorities, allowing taxpayers to spend their money against the majority’s will. Interestingly, it is all made possible by a single fundamental flaw in the American system of government.
One could successfully argue that the American system of government is one of the best systems created and practiced by various democratic countries over the last few hundred years. It’s a free capital market system that enables innovation in every sphere of life, rewards individuals exceptionally, and at the same time benefits the overall society greatly. The freedom to pursue one’s interests based on one’s talents to the best of one’s abilities has made America uniquely successful. Personal freedom has also allowed its citizens to push the envelope of social boundaries set by humankind over thousands of years around the globe. America has been at the forefront of every human endeavor over the last three hundred years. It led the world in the industrial revolution of the 19th century, the technological revolution of the 20th century, and the social revolution of the 21st century.
It is also one of the best systems of checks and balances set up by the founders between the executive and legislative branches of the government. Even though the American criminal defense legal system is considered one of the finest in the world, I believe the US federal court system has a fundamental flaw. To begin with, even though its judicial branch is supposed to be the third independent branch of the government, the federal legal system is entirely controlled by the executive and legislative branches of the government. A pact to promote an ideology by the executive and legislative branches allows them to appoint judges for decades, forcing their political will and ideology on future generations. For example, gun violence is now reported to almost everyone in real time, resulting in a majority opinion to change gun laws to limit individuals’ access to guns to curb gun violence. However, a handful of lawmakers can force their will on the majority by appointing judges willing to interpret the constitution according to the politicians’ agenda against the majority’s will. Interestingly, a set of judges reading the same constitution can interpret its meaning exactly opposite to a different set of judges in the same or a lower court. That is a fundamental flaw in the overall system of American government.
This flaw becomes more evident when the same process is observed at the highest court in the land. As an observer, it seems irrational that even the Supreme Court judges can interpret the Constitution in two opposite ways. Personal biases and political motivations are permitted by the judiciary when interpreting the constitution and in the application of the country’s laws. Such a practice and policy have hurt the American public in several life-changing decisions since the country’s founding. It seems arbitrary to enforce a judgment on hundreds of millions of people’s lives by a single majority vote of a judge.
At the turn of the millennium, the US must re-evaluate such an essential fact of its legal system. Given that most public policy disagreements between the executive and the legislative branches of the government or even a challenge by an ordinary citizen to her or his fundamental rights can reach and be decided by the highest court, the highest court judges must see the constitution in the same light. Like in a criminal case, where a single opposing jury member can hold a life and death decision for an individual, all Supreme Court decisions must be evaluated as a matter of life or death for the nation. They must all be unanimous in passing or rejecting any decisions. If they disagree even by one vote, the lower courts should be asked to re-evaluate their decisions. This will not only fix the issue of politicians forcing their political will on the majority’s will, but it will also make the third branch of government independent as the founders envisioned.
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