Do Judges "Make Policy"?
"Even the Supreme Court fails to define the terms it is using and sometimes uses oxymorons, such as 'compelling inference'… Every time I see the term 'reasonable' in an appellate opinion, I receive the message 'Here, you fix it.' Have you ever considered how stupid the term 'reasonably prudent man' is? Is it possible to be unreasonably prudent?"It is very much like people saying 'predict the future.' Just what else can one predict? Am I an activist? Of course. Every time I make a ruling based on the ambiguities of statutes, appellate decisions and frequently contradicting facts I engage in judicial activism. Every time I sentence some poor moke, I engage in judicial activism. Every time I force a defendant to trial, I engage in judicial activism. Being an umpire is rather simple when the batter's box, the pitcher's mound and the baselines are clearly marked. Try doing it sometime in the fog."
This judge speaks for hundreds of other judges, trial and appellate both, all across the country. Whatever else the confirmation battle over Judge Sonia Sotomayor does, here's hoping it brings to light the truth about the cowardly way in which lawmakers punt the hardest choices in legislations to the courts—and then blame judges when they are simply doing their best.
- Liberals Concerned About Sotomayor's Abortion Views
- W.H. Urged To Address "Racist" Charge
- Who Could Lose In A Confirmation Vote?
- Rigorous Questioning Hasn't Fazed Nominee
- Battle Lines Form Over High Court Pick
- Limbaugh, Gingrich: Sotomayor Is "Racist"
- Ad Supporting Sotomayor Released
- Declan McCullagh: Gun Rights Groups Are Wary Of Sotomayor
- Former Clerk: Sotomayor's A "Legal Purist"
- Sotomayor Unites Disparate Hispanic Groups
- WhiteHouse.gov Transparency? Not In Supreme Court Pick
- Declan McCullagh: Nomination Renews Abortion Debate
- Jeff Greenfield: A Political Matter
- Mark Knoller: How Obama Picked Sotomayor
- Steve Chaggaris: Obama Pick Leaves GOP In Difficult Spot
- Obama Taps Sonia Sotomayor For High Court
- Sonio Sotomayor's Biography
- Early GOP Reaction
- Full Text: Obama And Sotomayor's Comments
- Do Judges "Make Policy"?
- Sotomayor - A Three-Part Harmony
- The First Day Of The Rest Of Her Life
- When Worlds Collide - Prop 8 and Sotomayor
- More CourtWatch
- Obama And Sotomayor
- Sotomayor A Hometown Hero
- Will She Get The Job?
- Sotomayor In Depth
- Analysis: Bob Schieffer | Wyatt Andrews | Andrew Cohen | John Dickerson
- Photo Essay: Sonia Sotomayor
- Timeline Of Sotomayor's Life
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