Only One President Has Ever Ignored A SCOTUS Order

April 5, 2012
Only One President Has Ever Ignored A SCOTUS Order
Matthew S Harrison

Allow me to remind the American people of the only US President who violated a SCOTUS order, and the despicable outcome of his actions.

It was 1830, and Andrew Jackson, the founder of the Democratic Party, had signed the "Indian Removal Act of 1830." The Democrats were pretty rattled that the heathens had prospered, especially the "Five Civilized Tribes." The Trail Of Tears it was dubbed, for after the Supreme Court had ordered Jackson to stand down, the Army marched in and literally stole everything the "Five Civilized Tribes" had built (These tribes were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee-Creek, and Seminole).

Between 1831 and 1839, the Army had forced nearly 50,000 Indians to march west, many dying along the way. But in 1831, SCOTUS ruled on behalf of the Cherokee Nation, in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. Mr. Jackson became the only President to ignore a SCOTUS order, and the deaths of thousands of Cherokees followed. The ruination of their businesses, culture, and theft of their lands was the outcome. Those lands were ostensibly given to whites, while the Cherokees and the four other tribes were forcibly marched west to uncharted territory and left to die.

Mr. Jackson was succeeded by another Democrat, Martin VanBuren, who had been Jackson's Secretary of State. He followed in his predecessor's footsteps and made sure that the slaughter and theft of land, businesses, and pride continued long after Mr. Jackson got the ball rolling.

Oddly, the primary reason the Cherokees were forced out was the discovery of Gold in Georgia-and the leadership in Georgia, who followed the newly formed Democratic Party, couldn't have uppity dark skinned people gaining more strength and power than they already had, with their burgeoning businesses, and production of grains, textiles, and more. Among the Five Civilized Tribes, tens of thousands were placed in what we today know as concentration camps and/or marched from Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, Louisiana, and other areas not yet states, to places west that would become "reservations." This from the party who fought tooth and nail later against the abolition of slavery and who later brought us the KKK,

The reason we have a Government with three divisions, all with equal power under the law is simple; it is a system of checks and balances, to ensure that things like the Trail Of Tears don't occur ever again. Odd how this current president has violated the Constitution continually without serious friction from Congress or SCOTUS -- and now that there is potential friction, his dander is up. Let's hope SCOTUS isn't ignored by this President, as we all know the potential outcome when that happens. Obama's threat leveled at SCOTUS is in line with the founder of his party, and their longstanding belief that they are above the Constitution, and that the division of powers, as outlined in the Constitution of The United States of America.