Men in Black Read Free

Levin’s Men in Black provides an indispensable historical and constitutional context. And it offers suggested solutions to remedy the serious problems we face. Let me tell you, folks, this is a subject in need of our urgent attention. And this book provides the ammunition you need to defend your liberty.
    I am proud to endorse this book by a constitutional scholar, a brilliant lawyer, a pundit extraordinaire, an exceptional radio talk show host, a patriot, and my very good friend. I hope it sells a million and that twice that many read, absorb, and take to heart its critical message.

PREFACE
     

M EN , N OT G ODS
     
    T he biggest myth about judges is that they’re somehow imbued with greater insight, wisdom, and vision than the rest of us; that for some reason God Almighty has endowed them with superior judgment about justice and fairness. But the truth is that judges are men and women with human imperfections and frailties. Some have been brilliant, principled, and moral. Others have been mentally impaired, venal, and even racist.
    Barely one hundred justices have served on the United States Supreme Court. They’re unelected, they’re virtually unaccountable, they’re largely unknown to most Americans, and they serve for life. They work in a cloistered setting hidden from public view. Yet in many ways the justices are more powerful than members of Congress and the president.
    The Supreme Court today is involved in nearly every aspect of modern life, regularly vetoing the decisions of elected federal and state authorities. As few as five justices can and do dictate economic, cultural, criminal, and security policy for the entire nation. So who are these justices? Well, it’s impossible to generalize. But here are some of the more stunning personalities who have served on the Supreme Court:
     
    James Wilson
    Wilson was appointed by George Washington in 1789. He had been one of the more influential delegates at the Constitutional Convention, but had serious financial troubles after he was appointed to the Court. He put his money into land speculation, fell into serious debt, and was put in debtor’s prison. He once had his son pay off a creditor so that he—an associate justice of the Supreme Court—could be sprung from jail in Burlington County, New Jersey. Hounded by creditors, Wilson later left his native Pennsylvania and had to live a life on the run. After “holing up in a series of ‘dreary taverns,’” he died broke in North Carolina and was buried in an unmarked grave. 1
     
    John Rutledge
    Rutledge, too, was appointed by Washington in 1795—by recess appointment—and became the nation’s second chief justice. A United States senator from Rutledge’s native South Carolina wrote that “after the death of his wife, his mind was frequently so much deranged, as to be in a great measure deprived of his senses.” 2 There was considerable opposition to Rutledge’s appointment, and he was voted down by the Senate. There had been rumors that his “mind was unsettled” and “he was becoming insane.” 3 Rutledge’s depression was so serious that he made two failed suicide attempts, one shortly before and one soon after the Senate rejected his nomination. 4
     
    Henry Brockholst Livingston
    Appointed by Thomas Jefferson in 1806, Livingston had killed a man in a duel before his appointment to the Court. 5
     
    Henry Baldwin
    Baldwin was appointed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. In 1832, it was reported that he:
     
    “was seized today with a fit of derangement.” Less than two weeks later Daniel Webster alerted a friend to “the breaking out of Judge Baldwin’s insanity,” and another correspondent observed more pithily that “Judge Baldwin is out of his wits.” Baldwin was hospitalized for what was called “incurable lunacy” and missed the entire 1833 term of Court. Baldwin’s colleague Joseph Story informed Circuit Judge Joseph Hopkinson in May 1833 that “I am sure he cannot be sane. And,