"[T]he surest curb on judicial activism, for those who fear it, is executive and legislative activism in defense of constitutional liberties. The courts possess only so much power as the other branches relinquish."
-U.S. District Judge Frank Johnson, 1979
The closer Newt Gingrich gets to the Republican nomination for president, the more unhinged become his attacks on the independence of the federal judiciary. In early October, when Gingrich was nowhere in the polls, he ginned up a patently unconstitutional argument for subpoenaing judges to come before Congress to justify and explain what Gingrich considers their "radical" decisions. "The spectacle would be like a dog walking on its hind legs," said Bruce Fein, the respected conservative attorney and former Reagan official, when asked about Gingrich's plan. "You are surprised not that it is done ineptly, but that it is attempted at all.
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An independent judiciary is a check on legislatures that often shift with the political winds.
ReplyDeleteLegislatures make popular decisions; courts make sure they are constitutionally correct.
Even the "intellectual" Newt Gringrich knows this. He is pandering to "low information" (i.e., "stupid") voters. The only way he can get the nomination.