Posted on 08/23/2005 5:26:48 AM PDT by harpu
What it is, is; "jurisprudential mysticism" and "more liberal BS"...
"Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution" explains Justice Breyer's approach and applies it to some of the most divisive topics that come before the court. These include everything from freedom of speech and privacy rights to affirmative action and last June's Ten Commandments cases, which addressed the constitutionality of religious symbols on government property.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
oxymoron
Active Liberty
Translation
Breyer is free to make sure that you aren't
do you have to be a subscriber? I get a log in page from the link.
Funny. The Father of the Constitution said this:
Democracy is the most vile form of government... democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention: have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property: and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.A man so ignorant of the Constitution as to us the adjective democratic to describe it, should never have been appointed, let alone confirmed, to the Court.
ML/NJ
Thank you Protest Warrior
Yep. This is from the print edition:
"...on the current court, only Justice Scalia has issued a legal manifesto, entitled "A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law," which explains his originalist philosophy. Attempts to construe the Constitution as "evolving" merely are cover for judges imposing their views of what the law "ought" to be, rather than what it is, Justice Scalia argued in that 1997 volume.
By contrast, Justice Breyer's "Active Liberty" contends that judges can undercut the democratic system the Constitution's Framers sought to build if they adhere too literally to legal text and disaregard the "real world" consequences of the decisions they render."
This looking at facts as they "ought" to be and not as they are is the very essence of liberalism, and right at the heart of liberalism's difference from the conservative philosophy.
Our Congress will do nothing to rein in the activism of the judiciary -- that's a given.
But, isn't this book a breach of the "good behavior" standard in Article 3 of the Constitution?
After all, how can a sitting judge write a book that denies the "originalist intent" of the Framers, and still be considered a judge with "good behavior"?
The Judicial Oath, for all Federal Judges and Justices:
"I, _______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States[as originally written] against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
In addition, each justice or judge of the United States shall take the following oath or affirmation before performing the duties of his office. Section 8 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, as amended in 1990: "I, __________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as (name of position) under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.”
FGS
Now.
Interesting that he claims the Constitution is democratic. Now many voter initiatives (a truly democratic method with all the positives and negatives that implies) have been struck down by the various circuit courts and the supreme court. Breyer is just using his claims of "democracy" as a thin veil for a "rule by judges".
you got mail!
Wouldn't do any good. They'd place their hand on the Bible (assuming it's still allowed in public), swear their fealty like they actually meant it, then spend the rest of their first day eviscerating the BOR.
Are you describing lawyers or earthworms. Oh wait, I don't mean to insult honest earthworms everywhere.
Heh. Red Wigglers???
Got that one right.
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