Gingrich is not just about saying judges need to be “brought down.” He has said they should be impeached. That should not be controversial at all, it is explicitly provided for as a power of Congress in the Constitution, as explained originally by Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 81. The idea of subpoenaing judges, and if need be arresting them to enforce the power to bring them before Congress to testify, is more unprecedented and controversial, but is still nonetheless about bringing them before Congress to testify about their own rulings so that Congress can be informed before impeaching the judge. That itself does not seem altogether terribly radical to me. Federalist No. 81 states:
“It may in the last place be observed that the supposed danger of judiciary encroachments on the legislative authority, which has been upon many occasions reiterated, is in reality a phantom. Particular misconstructions and contraventions of the will of the legislature may now and then happen; but they can never be so extensive as to amount to an inconvenience, or in any sensible degree to affect the order of the political system. This may be inferred with certainty, from the general nature of the judicial power, from the objects to which it relates, from the manner in which it is exercised, from its comparative weakness, and from its total incapacity to support its usurpations by force. And the inference is greatly fortified by the consideration of the important constitutional check which the power of instituting impeachments in one part of the legislative body, and of determining upon them in the other, would give to that body upon the members of the judicial department. This is alone a complete security. There never can be danger that the judges, by a series of deliberate usurpations on the authority of the legislature, would hazard the united resentment of the body intrusted with it, while this body was possessed of the means of punishing their presumption, by degrading them from their stations. While this ought to remove all apprehensions on the subject, it affords, at the same time, a cogent argument for constituting the Senate a court for the trial of impeachments.”
“He has said they should be impeached. That should not be controversial at all, it is explicitly provided for as a power of Congress in the Constitution,...”
Yes...and his statements regarding such activist judges gave me great hope. Am I correct in my belief that speaker Gingrich is the ONLY candidate who has obviously thought about this particular manner of handling activist judges and brought it to our attention?
The Left certainly would fear a Gingrich presidency.