It's obviously desirable for the U.S. Supreme Court to use wisdom -- in accordance with our Constitution and the laws of our nation -- when it issues its decisions.
But the high court shows that wisdom not only when it issues complicated rulings on difficult subjects, but also when it restrains lower federal courts from overstepping their bounds.
The Supreme Court recently ruled, quite sensibly, that a federal court was out of line when it overturned California officials' denial of parole to a murderer and an attempted murderer. The ultraliberal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had thought the denial of parole to the convicted criminals wasn't reasonable.
Maybe it was or maybe it wasn't. But as the high court noted, that was a decision for California officials to be making in accordance with the laws of their state. It was not the 9th Circuit's "business" to substitute its own view of reasonableness, the Supreme Court stated.
That shows encouraging respect for constitutional limits on federal court power.