Wednesday Letters: Hold High Court confirmation hearing or resign

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Thank you for your timely editorial on Monday, “Don’t Drag Court Deeper into Politics.” The U.S. Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics. For the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the high court to be held in limbo since last March is shameful. And now the same Republican senators are suggesting that no nominee of any Democratic president deserves a hearing. That is an affront to the principle of separation of powers that our Founding Fathers held dear.

There have been nominees to the Supreme Court who were not confirmed, such as Robert Bork, and other nominees who barely were confirmed, such as Justice Clarence Thomas, but all nominees until now were given a hearing. The hypocrisy of not allowing Judge Garland a hearing by the very Senate that previously approved his appointment to the federal appellate bench underscores the contempt Republican senators hold for American institutions.

All Republican senators who refuse to hold hearings to consider presidential appointments should resign. They have violated their oaths of office. They do not deserve to be in the most prestigious legislative body in the world.

Jan Goldberg, Riverside

Don’t shy from making voting ‘easy’

After reading the Linda Chavez’ column in Monday’s paper — “Early voting waters down historic event” — I checked my copy of the Constitution. I was surprised to find that the phrase “but it can’t be too easy” was nowhere to be found. Anyone who doesn’t want voting to be easier wants it to be harder. It is called “disenfranchisement” and it is the opposite of freedom.

Don Anderson, Oak Park