Antonin Scalia: State judges have the power to "make" law (2002)

[AlexanderProgressive]

Talk about double standard.
As you know, Sonia Sotomayor has been criticized by the right and some in the mainstream media for having said that appeal court judges "make policy."

But The Huffington Post has unearth comments by Supreme Court Samuel Alito back in 2002, when he said:

This complete separation of the judiciary from the enterprise of "representative government" might have some truth in those countries where judges neither make law themselves nor set aside the laws enacted by the legislature. It is not a true picture of the American system. Not only do state-court judges possess the power to "make" common law, but they have the immense power to shape the States' constitutions as well. See, e.g., Baker v. State, 170 Vt. 194, 744 A. 2d 864 (1999). Which is precisely why the election of state judges became popular.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/28/antonin-scalia-judges-mak_n_208531.html

[eleny]

1. Good find and welcome to DU

:hi: