Judicial Power Over Bureaucratic Agencies

The article chosen for this assignment was posted is titled “How the Government Lost its Mind” by Deborah Pearlstein. She tries to explain the root cause of the leadership problems that America is facing today. Pearlstein starts by raising the doubts that Alexander Hamilton had when they proposed the execution of the 1787 constitution, which was based on enlightenment values such as reason and knowledge. The constitution divides the branches of government tendering each branch's power and responsibilities. The responsibility of the judiciary is to keep the executive in check. However, there has been an overlap of the responsibilities where one branch is doing all the work with time. Pearlstein believes that it results from the loss of enlightenment-based leadership. 

From the article, it is clear that the Corona Virus pandemic illuminates this idea as the judiciary's input in containing the virus has not been for the interest of the people. Pearlstein writes that it was expected to adjudicate constitutional disputes over the restrictions on religious gatherings, municipal shutdowns, and many other actions. However, some of the decisions that were made revealed that the judges' confirmation process was politicized and the legal profession itself. Judge Justin from Louisville, Kentucky, held that the prohibition of drive-in church services prohibited people's constitutional right to exercise religion freely. With the power vested upon the government's judicial branch, the mayor's office could not go against the court’s decision. There was no ban on drive-in church services, an incident that risked many lives during the pandemic, especially since the government, at large, and the responsible agents were doing little to contain the pandemic. Pearlstein urges that America should go back to enlightenment-based governance. 

Reference

Pearlstein, Deborah. (17th September 2020) How the Government Lost its Mind. Retrieved on 17th November 2020 from www.theatlantic.com