On Sun, 18 May 2008 10:40:04 -0500, F. George McDuffee
wrote:

snip
FWIW -- the average age of the current US supreme court is now
68, which helps explain why SCOTUS cannot seem to relate to the
problems and concerns of the people in the current times.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme..._United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogra...d_St ates#Age
snip
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I just got an interesting email from a reader *NOT* in the United
States pointing out another possible reason for SCOTUS
indifference to the concerns and problems of the majority of
citizens.

As indicated on the "demographics" page [about 7/8th from the
top] 7 of the current 9 Justices are graduates of either Harvard
or Yale, one from Columbia and one from Northwestern, all highly
[some would say overly] elite schools.

Name Appt. by College Law school
John Roberts G.W. Bush Harvard Harvard
John Paul Stevens Ford Chicago Northwestern
Antonin Scalia Reagan Georgetown Harvard
Anthony Kennedy Reagan Stanford Harvard
David Souter G.H.W. Bush Harvard Harvard
Clarence Thomas G.H.W. Bush Holy Cross Yale
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Clinton Cornell Columbia
Stephen Breyer Clinton Stanford Harvard
Samuel Alito G.W. Bush Princeton Yale

This is a very good point, and the elitist background of the
SCOTUS justices, in addition to their age, certainly amplifies
their isolation from [the concerns of] the majority of American
citizens.

Where are the graduates from our state law schools and land grant
universities? Why are there no graduates from UC, KU, FSU, Texas
Tech, etc.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/boalt-hall.html
http://www.law.ku.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida...College_of_Law
http://news.ttu.edu/archive/newsReleasesByCategory/13

Should there be a policy limiting the number of Harvard/Yale law
graduates? Should there be a policy requiring at least 5 of the
9 justices be graduates of law programs at public universities?


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).