Deactivating activist judges

[ilbegone]

The independence or not of judges.

Does the election of judges reflect the tyranny of the majority with a slide towards curtailment of constitutional rights or preference towards certain causes, or is it an assurance that judges will abide by society's values within the constitution?

Or the appointment of judges by a head of state, does that provide for judgment of cases within the framework of the constitution and precedence, or does it merely provide for an unelected term (in some cases a life long appointment) of promoting a political party's values?

I voted against a Swartzenegger nomination because she stated that she would be influenced by her life as a Filipina and a woman, I'm done with the the racial, ethnic and gender crap. On the other hand, would she be impartial within the framework of the constitution and precedence?

Another denounced her because she was allegedly soft on prisoner's rights, a stand I could at least partially agree with - if I knew it were true - due to my own life experience of having been an unwilling "guest" of the county. On the other hand, someone else who had been criminally victimized and did not have a similar experience to mine would probably prefer such a judge.

I've also heard of law enforcement shopping judges with a leniency towards certain types of warrants, and of defendants or corporations managing to disqualify a judge who would probably produce an unfavorable ruling towards their case.

And traffic court judges in California, who additionally function as a one man jury, will consider a defendant who doesn't testify on his own behalf (as provided for in the fifth amendment) as guilty of the alleged infraction while the accusing officer, who is not a member of the bar, also has an unethical role as semi prosecutor.

What's right?

Editorial by Bucks County Courier Times

Values voting: Deactivating activist judges

By: EDITORIAL [A local paper (I don't remember which) and the Washington post state the author is Ruth Marcus http://voices.washingtonpost.com/pos...s_of_ele.html]

Bucks County Courier Times

November 07, 2010

In one of Tuesday's most disturbing election results, the losing candidates didn't even have opponents.

Three justices of the Iowa Supreme Court lost what is ordinarily a pro forma election to retain their seats. Not coincidentally, these justices were part of last year's unanimous ruling to strike down a state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Outside groups opposed to same-sex marriage, including the National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association, poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into television ads and other efforts to deny them a new term.

"Activist judges on Iowa's Supreme Court have become political, ignoring the will of voters and imposing same-sex marriage on Iowa," said one commercial. "Liberal, out-of-control judges ignoring our traditional values and legislating from the bench. ... Send them a message. Vote no on retention of Supreme Court justices."

Well, message sent - and that is the problem. The Iowa vote is part of a larger phenomenon of the increasing politicization of judicial elections: more money, more attack ads, more intervention by outside groups, from trial lawyers to business interests.

This is an unavoidable result of states' decisions to give voters a say in judicial selection, whether through direct election of judges or retention votes. In 22 states, judges on the highest state court are chosen through elections and then either stand for re-election or face retention votes.

In another 16 states, high court judges are chosen in some other way but voters weigh in on keeping them. Some of the most prominent champions of judicial independence, including retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, have pointed to this approach - merit selection coupled with retention election - as a model for insulating the judiciary for undue political influence.

But the 2010 campaign illustrates the downside of judicial accountability and the threat of growing politicization of retention elections. In Illinois, where Supreme Court justices are chosen through elections and then subject to a retention vote, the decision about whether to keep incumbent Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride turned into a multimillion-dollar battle in the wake of Kilbride's vote to overturn a state law limiting damages in medical malpractice suits. Kilbride won.

You might look at the Iowa results as a reasonable illustration of accountability in action. After all, what's the point of building in accountability unless you're willing to let voters hold judges accountable? But there is also a difference between giving voters the opportunity to remove judges who behave in inappropriate or unethical ways and letting retention elections turn into referendums on unpopular rulings. The courts may follow the election returns, but I don't want judges making rulings with an eye on their own electoral fortunes.

I happen to agree with the Iowa court's same-sex marriage decision, but I hope I'd feel the same way if the court had ruled in the opposite direction and gay rights groups fought to remove them. I vehemently disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's campaign finance ruling in the Citizens United case, but those who suggest the impeachment of Chief Justice John Roberts for that decision are even more off-base than the critics of the Iowa justices. Oregon Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio told The Huffington Post that he was "investigating articles of impeachment against Justice Roberts for perjuring during his Senate hearings, where he said he wouldn't be a judicial activist." DeFazio can't be serious.

There is an inherent tension between independence and accountability. When it comes to the judges - and when judicial activism is in the eye of the beholder - the system needs to be rigged, as the founders wisely did, in favor of independence.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news...st-judges.html

[Rim05]

I voted against a Swartzenegger nomination because she stated that she would be influenced by her life as a Filipina and a woman, I'm done with the the racial, ethnic and gender crap. On the other hand, would she be impartial within the framework of the constitution and precedence?

That was my first and most compelling reason to reject that person.
I am of mixed race and a woman. I never want a 'break' because of race or gender.
I also believe John Roberts is not fit to be a SCJ. With all my heart I had hoped that he would not be confirmed, but as usual he was.
I truly belief he 'goofed' Obama's swearing in on purpose, at some time in the future he ,Obama, could have been declared as not legitmate because the swearing in was incorrect.
Have to give Obama credit for being astute enough to see the pit fall.

Now is the time to put the names of our activist judges in a Judges Folder for future reference.