Judge not, lest ye be 'activist'

[checks-n-balances]

Judge not, lest ye be 'activist'
By Cynthia Tucker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
04/03/05

(snip)

Ultra-conservatives want you to believe the term "activist judge" applies to a group of determined liberals whose rulings have overturned historic precedent, undermined morality and defied common sense. But the controversy that erupted around Schiavo, who died on Thursday, ought to remind us once and for all what "activist judge" really means — a jurist whose rulings dissatisfy a right-wing political constituency.

Over the next few months, you'll hear the term "activist judge" often as President Bush nominates justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. The president could end up appointing as many as four. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, is ailing with cancer; John Paul Stevens is also an octogenarian. Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are cancer survivors in their 70s.

With so many likely vacancies, ultra-conservatives see an opportunity to drive from the bench any semblance of fealty to the law or the U.S. Constitution. They claim that judges have become the tool of an outlandish liberal fringe that has violated the graves of the Founding Fathers. When right-wing talk show hosts and U.S. senators denounce judicial activism, they conjure up images of jurists who terrorize the God-fearing, coddle criminals and would — according to one crazed campaign memo passed around during last year's presidential campaign — outlaw the Bible.

(snip)

President Bush has already made clear that his idea of a model chief justice is Clarence Thomas, who has no respect for judicial precedent. But even Thomas might not satisfy the extremists who chastise Judge Greer. They will be satisfied with nothing less than a judiciary steeped in the same narrow religious views they want to impose on the nation.

Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Sundays and Wednesdays.

Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/index.html

[TaleWgnDg]

1. The url that you supplied required a registration . . .

.
The url that you supplied required a registration . . . tis always better to tell us, DUers, that . . . up front.

That being said, yes, the term

"activist judge" = "I hate that judge's opinions!" P-E-R-I-O-D

.

[Deaniac20]

2. Strict revisionism

if we wanna start winning elections, we can't throw back in their face "no YOUR activist" like many liberals do. We need to come up with our own word, like strict revisionism, like they wanna revise the constitution.