EDITORIAL
Wave of opposition
may wipe out Thomas
When U S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Mar
shall resigned from his seat on the Supreme Court it
marked the end of an era Marshall was an integral part
of many of the court's more famous civil rights rulings
The court's first black justice was the champion of
many liberal causes.
Depending on whom one talks to. the opinions
about Marshall's performance on the bench vary wide
ly. Conservatives say he was an ideologue wanting to
legislate from the judicial branch. But in the eyes of the
people who struggle for civil rights, abortion rights and
many of the other freedoms allegedly available in
America. Marshall was a justice who understood what
it was like to face bigotry and oppression.
That's why it comes as no surprise that George
Bush's recent nomination of ITS. Circuit Court of Ap
peals Judge Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme
Court has caused a stir in Washington. As the Bush
camp has been sure to stress, Thomas was brought up
in poverty — he lived in a sharecropper’s shack — in
Georgia before segregation was abolished. Me worked
his way up from those humble beginnings to his pres
ent position as a nominee to the highest court in the
country. Like Marshall. Thomas's background should
make him more sensitive to the problems of minorities
But unlike Marshall. Thomas does nothuve a strong be
lief in affirmative action efforts.
Because of his beliefs Thomas has fallen under crit
icism previously. As chairman of the Equal Employ
ment Opportunity Commission during the Reagan ad
ministration. his actions angered many minority
groups such ;is women, blacks, Hispanics, the handi
capped and the elderly.
Those same groups are now coming out in to op
pose his nomination to the high court.
The opposition to Justice David Souter s nomina
tion did not rise quite so swiftly and loudly when he
was first appointed. Thomas faces some tough ques
tioning ahead. For his part, hi' is keeping ins comments
to the press short If opposition to Thomas's appoint
ment continues to grow. Bush might find that his latest
nominee is the first to put a new verb into use: He may
get "Borkod."
Oregon Daily
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LETTERS POLICY
the Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print .ill
letters containing coinrnents un topics of interest to the
University community
The Emerald reserves the right to edit am letter for
length or style.
WUV DO TOE<A CALL
college Classes
"ACADEMIC" ?
BECAUSE LUEU
MEVER AFFORD
TUF TUITIOM,
AMViJAV
i
I
LETTERS
True gritism
Most of tin' "politically cor
reel" themes, from either dia
metre poll*, arc based on pa
tenth absurd truisms
1 or example, take the homo
sexuals trying to justify their re
hellious lifestyle hy saying they
were iMirn that wav Granted,
the sexual drive is inherent, but
the (oc us thereof is learned be
huvior.
The reasoning whi< h ration
ali/.es homosexuality would
also endorse adultery, incest,
bestiality and fetishism Does
anyone expect me to believe a
shoe fetishist is programmed In
genetics ' No doubt some evnlu
tionisl will attempt to
I certainly don't want such
free thinkers" molding socle
tv And spare me the truism
that anything would l>e better
than bloody h mg (ieorge
Dennis Moran
Hugene
Stay away
I would like this community
to know that 1 am disgusted
vs ith the Oregon Mouse of Hep
resentatives Kepublu an leader
ship for their shabby manipulu
lion and denial ol a hearing and
vote on Senate Hill 708, the so
i ailed "(iav Rights Hill
As a gay person. I feel tfiat
this attitude hurts all people
ami not only those ol us who
would immediately benefit
from Its passage into law IJn
like many gav people who have
lobbied for this bill, I have a
business with products tfiat are
distributed and respected na
tionally I am using this nation
at orientation to display my
feelings on this issue 1 am told
that guv people comprise about
10 port ent of our population.
Using that figure. 1 am plat mg
the following statement on a
random 10 percent of the pat k
ages of our most widely distrib
tiled product, Oregon Suet
Bkx k
' ( o< kerum Oregon Insects
Corporation recommends that
our customers postpone all va
cation and conventional travel
to Oregon until this state's Re
publican legislative leaders
i hange their position with re
gard to the civil rights of gay
people
I am sure that many of you
will find this action to he
mean-spirited, but. after all. 1
am a registered Repuhlit an I
suggest that any of you who
have complaints about m\ ac
tion t.ike your gripes to the
House Judiciary Committee
Chairman. Randy Miller, or
complain to Speaker of the
House l.arrv Campbell.
Forrest Cockerrum
Tillamook
Pushing buttons
Your editorial {ODlJune 27)
accusing Attorney Ceneral
Have 1'rohnmavnr of not being
"bright enough" to understand
the appropriateness of exempt
mg peyote use lor religious pur
poses by Native Americans
from its general prohibition got
m.liters badly confused This
very limited exemption has
now been accomplished in the
manner it should be, by a nar
row Iv focused legislative
amendment for the support of
which you rightly commend
Rep Jim Lidmunson And Gov
Barbara Roberts
Dave iTonnmayers earner
Involvement with this issue
was in an entirely different c.a
pacitv. As Oregon's Attorney
Ceneral it was his obligation to
defend the constitutionality of
the state's law as it then exist
ed In doing so successfully be
fore the U.S Supreme Court,
Irohnmaver helped place re
sponsibility for reforming the
law where it belongs, with the
governor and legislators That
responsibility' has now been
met in a manner most (.oasis
tent with the premises of demo
cratlc: self-government
Your editorial's mistake, an
increasingly common one these
days, is to assume that an indi
vidual's, in this case Krohn
mayer's, constitutional view ol
an issue is necessarily the same
as one s view of sensible and
)usi public polic \ It is one
thing lor the Legislature to do
what ours has just done by
crafting a very limited e.xemp
lion from an otherwise general
lx applicable criminal prohibi
tion. It would be quite another
thing, one fraught xvith mui h
potential for dlvisiveness and
polarization, for the Supreme
court to start in effect promul
gating spot ial prix lieges lor one
group or another, based upon
religious lieliefs or affiliations,
in the form of exemptions horn
laws binding all other citizens
It is far more fitting that any
such special exemptions
should be granted by those offi
rials who have imposed general
legal obligations and who are
elected to represent the major
ity of citizens who are subject
to them. These do not include
Supreme Court justices
Mauri) e J. Holland
Dean, School of Law
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