European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes columns William Lasser attempts to influence justices could backfire we know the supreme court does t operate Ina vacuum said the Leader of a pro Choice group recently so we want to create the political environment that would make it impossible for the court to Over turn Roe versus  her counterpart on the other Side spoke in similar terms defending operation Rescue As a movement that saves women and children and sends the message to politicians and the supreme court that child killing in t going to be  these blatant attempts to bully the supreme court into a decision one Way or the other in the abortion Case arc part of a disturbing trend. At Best they reflect fundamental misunderstanding of the Way the c9urt works and the ways it is influenced by Public  worst they reveal a deep seated and disturbing cynicism toward the court and the judicial process. To begin with it is highly unlikely that the court will allow itself to be influenced even by massive Public protests and letter writing campaigns. Such tactics have never worked in the past and there is no reason to think they will work now. Public opinion can and docs influence the court Over the Long haul. The justices Are Likely to respond when questions Are brought before them and May re verse previous decisions when they arc repeatedly pressed to do so by the Justice department and by Public opinion leaders. In Brown is. Board of education for example the justices were clearly reacting to Subtle but Clear shifts in Public attitudes on race relations that can be Trace to before world War ii. The court s fits and starts in the later decisions enforcing Brown also reflected the justices perceptions of the Public s shifting tolerance for change. Particular justices May even respond though improperly to private and personal appeals from pc is dents and others with whom they Are intimate though this was far More common years ago than in the modern Era. On rare occasions they May respond to what they perceive As a threat to the institutional legitimacy of the court itself As in 1937, when the court realized the futility of opposing for s new Deal. There is no historical or contcmp9rary evidence however that the court can he manipulated in the Short term by direct popular action. It is even possible that such attempts could backfire if the justices feel Anthony Lewis the need to demonstrate their integrity in the Wake of Public pressure. Surely the leaders of both the pro Choice and anti abortion movements know that their protests Are unlikely to influence the outcome of the Case. So Why bother both sides arc looking beyond the court to the next phase in the abortion War. If the court As Many observers expect docs loosen its restrictions on state abortion Laws both sides will face not one but 50 separate wars one in each  both sides know that stale legislators unlike supreme court justices arc expected to respond tothe organized demands of their constituents. Attempts by leaders on both sides of the Abor Tion Issue to create the impression that the court can be easily manipulated by Public opinion is not Only rank cynicism it May in the end turn out to be bad politics. The pro Choice forces need to strengthen the Ameri can people s inherent respect for Law and should lose no Opportunity to impress on them the importance of respect for the Sanctity of the judicial process. To do otherwise can Only undermine respect for the court decisions on privacy and on other matters As Well. Even the anti abortion forces May find their strategy losing one in the Long term. A Victory in the abortion Case achieved at the Cost of eroding the Public s respect for the Law May turn out to be a pyrrhic Victory. If the anti abortion forces can bully the court int changing its mind Why not the pro Choice forces if the Warren and Burger courts decisions can be Over turned or weakened on demand Why not those of the Rehnquist court William Yussef teaches political science at Clemson University in Clemson s c. He wrote mis article Tor the Atlanta Constitution Cox news service a taste of Freedom leads to demands for More history happening before our eyes that was our awed feeling As we. Watched the scenes in  until the chinese government Cut the International television links. Mere was a giant society stirring against a regime that was suddenly amazingly vulnerable. How did it happen Why did people by the million break their constraints and voice de mands for change just 10 years ago Deng Xiaoping crushed the democracy Wall move ment with no difficulty. He sent Wei Jingsheng the most important of the Young campaigners for democracy into brutal imprisonment. There was no perceptible resistance inside China or outside. The United slates was so intent on improving its relations with China that to its shame it said nothing Deng saw that As proof that the world docs not care if China crushes dissent. In 1987, urging a crackdown on Stu Dent unrest he told High parly officials we put Wei Jingsheng sch Nabars did t we did that damage China s reputation today the world docs care about Tyr Anny in China and China has to care what the world thinks. It is no longer the Middle kingdom isolated and self sufficient. Deng opened China up made it Parton the International Community. The country s plans rely on foreign invest ment and expertise and hence on for eign Confidence. The opening to the world also had profound effects on the chinese people. They began to see foreign visitors enlarge numbers for the first time since the 1949 revolution and chinese fro Hong Kong and overseas. On radio and television they were exposed to a variety of ideas including the idea of democracy. It is evident now that modern communications the instantaneous aware Ness of what is happening around the world work to spread the idea of democracy. People in China or the soviet Union or elsewhere May not agree on exactly How to define it but they know the want More control of their own lives. That is Why chinese demonstrators had a Model of the statue of Liberty. The economic changes begun by Deng were a liberating Force them selves. When peasants were allowed tomake their own decisions on what to grow when City dwellers found the goods of a modern society on Sale at free markets the idea of political Choice quite naturally followed. But Deng s Liberal views in economics did not extend to politics. He kept a tight lid on expression cracking Down on dissent in the press and on campuses. One of the main de mands of the demonstrators has Bee for Freedom of the press. Political rigidity was accompanied by corruption a dangerous Combina Tion in any society peasants had to sell a portion of their crops to the government at Low prices. They were supposed to be a Leto buy fertilizer and fuel at fixed prices too but they found that local officials were Selling those supplies on the free Market. The children of High party Fig ures got privileges a subject of bit Ter complaint in the demonstrations. In recent years in addition to those reasons f9r political unease there has come an inflation severe enough to be destabilizing. Farmers turning in their crops have received not Money but White slips promises to pay at some unspecified future time. Those were some of the element working for discontent in China when the protests started last month. But it still took enormous courage for the students to Challenge authority so boldly to walk through lines of police and soldiers As they first did in Beijing on april 27. The students Are speaking for me a distinguished chinese visitor to the United states said the other Day. They arc saying what has been in Side my head for years but i have not had the courage to  the government could probably have ended the protests Early on by making modest reforms. But it Tempo sized for weeks and then rejected any concessions. That strategy Only toughened the demonstrators demands. More and More called on Deng Xiaoping to go. A Banner Hung from the Chines Academy of social sciences last week said dump the  the result is that the protests while still peaceful have become a frontal political confrontation. People on both sides worry about chaos a deep concern after the turbulence of the cultural revolution. Now the government threatens to end the protests by Force. Whether troops will carry out. Such orders is Uncertain. If they do if totalitarian order i restored it will be a dubious Victory. For the legitimacy of the govern ment will henceforth be in question in the world and in China. New York Talmot