Letters to the editor Jan. 2

Judicial branch

A recent letter to the editor (State Supreme Court, Dec. 22) made me metaphorically scratch my head. 

We have a tripartite form of government in our country where the constitution, both state and federal, are the final word on the laws the Legislature passes into law. The intent of the court branch of government is that they will be impartial and nonpartisan, checking the law against the constitution at both the federal and the state level. (Whether or not our courts, especially the highest court of the land, are impartial is another topic.) 

The job of the court is to keep laws in line with the constitution. The author of last Sunday’s letter to the editor is upset that our state Supreme Court is factoring in the right to privacy to laws passed by the Legislature. The right to privacy is enshrined in our state constitution, very deliberately. (Section 10. Right of privacy. The right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest.) 

Rights that are enshrined in the constitution are an interesting question. Sometimes it is difficult to discern where they intersect and how to parse them out.  For example, where does your right to own any gun you want intersect with a child’s right to be protected from being shot at their school? That feels like a compelling state interest to me. 

However, here is the important thing about the courts: They are the only branch of government that protect us from government intrusion and overreach into our lives and our rights. Without the courts, the other two branches of government could run roughshod over our rights to free speech, the right to information, to make our own health decisions, and of course, a favorite right of Americans, the right to bear arms. Don’t we want that protection?  

I don’t know about you, but I want to be able to choose my religion, the books I read, keep the government out of my health care decisions, and keep my right to send a letter to the editor of my local paper without the government getting in the middle. I respect and desire the work of the courts to keep the other two branches of government in check.

— Valeri McGarvey, Kalispell