“NO constitutionally protected right to vote”

The Supreme Court vs. The American People

Jamin Raskin is a professor of constitutional law at American University. His latest book, Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court vs. The American People, contends the current court is one of the most activist courts in U.S. history and should not be exempt from criticism by either candidates for federal office or the public. TomPaine.com’s Steven Rosenfeld spoke with Raskin.

TomPaine.com: You write that the Supreme Court has a very different view of democracy, democratic institutions, civil rights and corporate power than that held by most Americans. What do most Americans believe about their country that is out of sync with the Supreme Court?

Jamin Raskin: People believe there is a constitutional right to vote. People believe there is a constitutional right to an education. Most people assume that states have to guarantee equal funding for public schools. All of those beliefs are rejected by the Supreme Court…

Raskin: The Supreme Court has repeatedly intervened to deform and distort the political process. The most spectacular example is Bush v. Gore. The most interesting part of that decision to me was the sentence in which the court says there is no federally protected constitutional right to vote. The Court essentially denied the right that most people assume is at the heart of democracy. The Court said that the right to vote in presidential elections really belongs to the states who can appoint electors, and the Court made it clear that if Florida or any other state wanted to get rid of the popular vote or disregard it, they could do so…{{link http://TomPaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/7632/ MORE}}

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