Do You Treasure Representative Government?
C. Boyden Grey, courtesy of Professor Bainbridge:
Left-leaning judicial activists have expanded the courts' power over American life, but thanks to their overreach, judges--and their confirmations--are now politicized. Republicans should tell independents that constitutionalist judges will allow greater flexibility by withdrawing the judiciary from controversies best left to the legislatures.
The Supreme Court is now composed of four consistent liberals (John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer), three firm conservatives (Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia), and two middle-of-the-roaders (Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy). In all likelihood, the next president will replace at least two and as many as four. The type of jurists confirmed will determine the course of government for the next 50 years. Will liberal activists dominate, creating new constitutional mandates favoring their social policy, aiding the plaintiffs' bar, and continuing Washington's accretion of power? Or will constitutionalists rule, returning divisive social debates to the people, throwing out junk lawsuits, and regarding federal power skeptically? More to the point, will judges be returned to their historical role as neutral interpreters of the Constitution and precedent, or will the imperial judiciary be revitalized and extended for decades?
Left-leaning judicial activists have expanded the courts' power over American life, but thanks to their overreach, judges--and their confirmations--are now politicized. Republicans should tell independents that constitutionalist judges will allow greater flexibility by withdrawing the judiciary from controversies best left to the legislatures.
The Supreme Court is now composed of four consistent liberals (John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer), three firm conservatives (Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia), and two middle-of-the-roaders (Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy). In all likelihood, the next president will replace at least two and as many as four. The type of jurists confirmed will determine the course of government for the next 50 years. Will liberal activists dominate, creating new constitutional mandates favoring their social policy, aiding the plaintiffs' bar, and continuing Washington's accretion of power? Or will constitutionalists rule, returning divisive social debates to the people, throwing out junk lawsuits, and regarding federal power skeptically? More to the point, will judges be returned to their historical role as neutral interpreters of the Constitution and precedent, or will the imperial judiciary be revitalized and extended for decades?
posted by Mike C | 1:23 PM
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