|
During the campaign, Barack Obama said he wanted to appoint Supreme Court justices with a “heart” for the downtrodden, and who would use courts to help the poor. Ironically, in the same week he got his first shot at naming a new appointee, Jewish tradition directed a public reading of a passage from Leviticus condemning the essence of the president’s approach. Verse 19:15 unequivocally declares: “You shall not commit a perversion of justice; you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great; with righteousness shall you judge your fellow.” Amazingly, the Bible prohibits favoritism for the poor even before it bans bias for the great. Judeo-Christian tradition commands personal, private compassion and acts of charity, but public policy and the justice system must be impartial and neutral—uncorrupted by sympathy or emotion.
|