The United States Supreme Court is a reliable source in debate regarding constitutionality.

My opponent is correct in that the arguments start in Round 2, which happens to be this round, so. .. Contention 1-: The Supreme Court is heavily biased It's rather obvious that the Supreme Court isn't perfect. They are mortal men, after all. And as mortal men, they have their own biases, subjecting their decisions to not reason but emotional response or personal desires. As Justice William O. Douglas put it, "At the constitutional level where we work, 90 percent of any decision is emotional. The rational part of us supplies the reasons for supporting our predilections" [1][2]. In the case of Fletcher v. Peck (1810), Justice John Marhall ruled in favor of landowners and for a contract that was self-evidently the result of bribery, he himself being an investor in land [1]. In numerous cases, the Supreme Court grants itself more power over the states, as it always does whenever it unconstitutionally strikes down a state law. This is also a bias for itself. Justice Hugo L. Black was particularly notorious with power expansion, striking down constitutional laws passed by the state using the First Amendment, which specifically applied only to Congress, with the chief goal of striking down Christianity [1]. Contention 2-: The Supreme Court contradicts itself repeatedly Compare Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) [1][3], which ruled that Pennsylvania could require students to salute the flag, to West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) [1][4], which ruled that requiring students to salute the flag was unconstitutional. Compare Stanley v. Georgia (1969) [1][5], which ruled that one had a right to own obscene materials, to Miller v. California (1973) [1][6], which ruled that obscene materials were not protected anywhere in the Constitution. Compare Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) [7], which ruled that public schools could discriminate based on race, to Brown v. Board of Education (1954) [1][8], which ruled that they could not, and again to Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968) [1][9], which ruled that they must. Case in point, the Supreme Court contradicts itself within a matter of years, so how can they be considered reliable? Contention 3-: The Supreme Court rarely actually invokes the Constitution correctly in its rulings The most powerful quote I can offer for this point is Justice Anthony Kennedy's "We must never lose sight of the fact that the law has a moral foundation, and we must never fail to ask ourselves not only what the law is, but what the law should be" [1][10]. Deciding what the law "should" be is a job of the legislatures. The Court's function is to interpret what the law is. The Court has broken this rule time and time again in history. Perhaps the most prevalent example is the misapplication of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which reads that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. " This amendment only mentions Congress, not the Congress of any particular state. However, many rulings have applied First Amendment restrictions to state laws, from the aforementioned West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette to Larkin v. Grendel's Den (1982) [1][12], which ruled that Massachussetts could not ban bars from within 500 feet from any church or school that did not want the bar there. In short, the Supreme Court is self-contradictory, biased, and all too often flat-out wrong, and therefore should not be held as reliable in debate. I may add cases to my current contentions, or add other contentions in future rounds, although these will probably be sufficient. Good luck, ReformedArsenal. I look forward to your response. 1. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution, Kevin R. C. Gutzman, J. D. , Ph. D 2. . http://www.brainyquote.com... 3. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 4. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 5. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 6. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 7. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 8. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 9. . http://en.wikipedia.org... 10. . http://www.quotesstar.com... 11. . http://www.usconstitution.net... 12. . http://en.wikipedia.org...'s_Den