Take Heart

A few moments ago, Samuel Alito became our nation’s 110th Supreme Court justice. Read the full story here.

Hard times surely lie ahead if Alito moves the court to the far right, as many—including myself—fully expect him to do. I honestly don’t know what this will mean for the prospects of a same-sex marriage case from Massachusetts (i.e. challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act) being given a fair and just hearing before our nation’s highest court.

I will take comfort in the words of Wendell Phillips, a brilliant 19th-century orator and abolitionist from Massachusetts, whose statue I passed last week while walking down Boylston Street alongside the Boston Common. I’m not often at that end of the Common and it had been a while—perhaps years—since the last time I passed Phillips’ statue, which is why I’m glad it caught my eye last week. Inscribed at the base of the statue is the following quote, which immediately made me think of America’s future under a conservative-dominated Supreme Court:

Whether in chains or in laurels, liberty knows nothing but victories.