Free Republic

Liberals have made up a new insult for conservatives based on a shallow misunderstanding of constitutional principles. An Associated Press opinion piece by Ben Evans insinuated that GOP members are hypocrites when it comes to support for the Constitution. If he had named John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski, or other Progressive Republicans, Evans might have had a point. He named, however, U.S. Representatives Paul Broun, Michele Bachmann, and Pete Hoekstra. Evans' point is essentially that these Republicans who say they support the Constitution are hypocrites because they favor constitutional amendments to change the Constitution. I suspect his aim was...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rudy Giuliani assured a conservative legal group Friday that if elected president he would appoint federal judges who adhere to their principles. He also praised a judge who declared the capital city's gun ban unconstitutional and ridiculed efforts to eliminate the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. In a speech marking the 25th anniversary of the Federalist Society, Giuliani spelled out a conservative legal agenda in which he cited Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts as models for the judges he would appoint to the federal...

In 1991, George H. W. Bush nominated 43-year-old court of appeals judge Clarence Thomas, who had been on the bench only 19 months, for a seat on the Supreme Court. The president declared that “race played no part in his selection,” but the statement was hard to believe. After all, Thomas would replace Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American on the Court. Almost everyone assumed that Bush had caved to political pressure to reserve a black seat on the Court, and filled it with one of the few black conservatives on the bench.Liberals immediately launched withering attacks on Thomas’s fitness for...

In the months leading up to the 2006 midterm elections, as pundits and bloggers looked forward to the '08 presidential election, there was almost a universal sense of conventional wisdom that John McCain was the plainly recognized frontrunner, whereas Rudy Giuliani's stature as a contender would immediately plummet "once those conservatives found out about those liberal social views of Rudy's." Then, during the summer of 2006, the mainstream media and beltway thinkers had their proof. A serious political action organization was formed by a group of hardcore social conservatives, dedicated to tearing down any chance of Rudy's at grabbing the...

Senate Confirms Kavanaugh to Appeals Court By LAURIE KELLMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - White House aide Brett Kavanaugh won Senate confirmation as an appeals judge Friday after a wait of nearly three years, yet another victory in President Bush's drive to place a more conservative stamp on the nation's courts. Kavanaugh was confirmed on a vote of 57-36, warmly praised by Republicans but widely opposed by Democrats who said he is ill-suited to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. In a statement, Bush said Kavanaugh will be "a brilliant, thoughtful and fair-minded judge."...

Over the years, there have been a number of books written about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Some of these books have looked at Justice Thomas politically, some biographically or racially -- and with various degrees of bias or inaccuracy.Now, more than a dozen years since Clarence Thomas became a member of the High Court, there is at last a book about his day job -- interpreting and applying the law.More than 300 of Justice Thomas' Supreme Court opinions are quoted and analyzed in a recently published book, "The Keeper of the Flame" by Henry Mark Holzer.Unlike most of his...

It looks like the third time was the charm for the Federalist Society. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has long been an active participant in the conservative legal society, an influential group that sometimes goes to great lengths to play down its influence. Alito has been a member for at least 15 years and has spoken before both the national organization and its student chapters on a number of occasions. That's a welcome change for the group after the last two Supreme Court nominations: -John Roberts, the new chief justice, is well-liked by Federalist Society members but belatedly denied he'd...

There's a paradox in George W. Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. The coming fight might not be good for Alito, but it's going to be great for Bush. To get anywhere in politics, you need a base. Of course, you also need a majority, but first you need strong supporters - only then can you build toward 50 percent plus one. The base was what Bush was in danger of losing, thanks to government overspending and the disastrously failed nomination of Harriet Miers. By appointing Alito, Bush has taken a big step toward reclaiming his base....

As an appeals court judge, Samuel Alito has compiled a massive record that includes more than 240 opinions. Of these, the most illuminating may well be his 41 dissents -- opinions that he has written by himself, rejecting the views of his colleagues. When they touch on issues that split people along political lines, Alito's dissents show a remarkable pattern: They are almost uniformly conservative. In the overwhelming majority of cases, he has urged a more conservative position than that of his colleagues. In his dissents, at least, he has been a conservative's conservative -- not always in his reasoning,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush pushed back against suggestions by some skeptical Republicans that Harriet Miers was not conservative enough, insisting on Tuesday that his nominee to the Supreme Court shares his strict-constructionist views. "I know her heart," Bush told a Rose Garden news conference. "Her philosophy won't change." As his White House counsel made the rounds of Senate offices, Bush reached out to his conservative supporters with words of reassurance. "I hope they're listening," said the president as he worked to appease conservatives without giving new ammunition to Democrats.Some commentators and activists have expressed open disappointment with Bush's selection...

A Supreme Property Rights Disaster In The Making More Kelo on the SCOTUS horizon?... [James S. Burling] 8/15/05 After a term marked by the Supreme Court’s utter contempt for property rights, those of us who happen to think there is something special about allowing old widows to keep their homes were not prepared for an even more bitter defeat. Yet, that is what President Bush handed us with the nomination of John Roberts. The battle over property rights is not a conservative versus liberal thing. It’s more a struggle between those who believe in the power of the state to...

Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts, while serving as the head of Hogan & Hartson’s appellate division, spent about a dozen hours working on behalf of Playboy Entertainment Group in a case before the Supreme Court in 1999, his former colleague told HUMAN EVENTS.

I don't know who makes me sicker – President Bush or the "conservatives" who continue to back him and his sell-out choice for the U.S. Supreme Court. The conservatives eagerly jumped in to throw their support to the unknown John Roberts as soon as the choice to replace Sandra Day O'Connor was announced. On what basis? The guy was a blank slate – like David Souter and Anthony Kennedy before him. Then, last week, the Los Angeles Times broke the story that Roberts had volunteered his services – pro bono – to help prepare a landmark homosexual activist case to...

I don't know who makes me sicker – President Bush or the "conservatives" who continue to back him and his sell-out choice for the U.S. Supreme Court. The conservatives eagerly jumped in to throw their support to the unknown John Roberts as soon as the choice to replace Sandra Day O'Connor was announced. On what basis? The guy was a blank slate – like David Souter and Anthony Kennedy before him. Then, last week, the Los Angeles Times broke the story that Roberts had volunteered his services – pro bono – to help prepare a landmark homosexual activist case to...

WASHINGTON - John Roberts pledged to keep an open mind and respect settled law if confirmed to the Supreme Court, telling Senate committee members in a questionnaire that precedent is important in “promoting the stability of the legal system.” The response, numbering about 100 pages and released by the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, provides Roberts’ responses to a broad array of questions, including his work history, political ties and views on judicial activism. “A sound judicial philosophy should reflect recognition of the fact that the judge operates within a system of rules developed over the years by other judges equally...

The unexpected resignation of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner creates a vacancy that, once filled, can radically shift the court to the right on social issues. And that can ultimately spell disaster for such issues as affirmative action, women’s rights, civil liberties, the death penalty and employees’ rights. O’Conner, the first Supreme Court appointment made by Ronald Reagan, was the court’s swing justice, with her vote helping constitute a 5-4 majority on many important issues. Court watchers had expected ailing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to retire after this session – and that’s still a possibility – but he...

Usually, any serious push toward making one a saint, or canonization, happens when that person is deceased. After a five-year waiting period--and the proof of a miracle or three--the candidate for sainthood is deemed to have “attained the blessedness of heaven and authorize the title ‘Blessed’ and limited public religious honor.” Miraculously enough, recently retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has been “sainted” by the mainstream media in less than one news cycle since her announcement on the morning of July 1. Even Pope John Paul II, whose five-year waiting period has been waived, is just beginning his journey...

ON OCTOBER 23, 1987--a day that lives in conservative infamy--Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court was rejected by a Democratic Senate. Now, 18 years later, George W. Bush has the chance to reverse this defeat, and to begin to fulfill what has always been one of the core themes of modern American conservatism: the relinking of constitutional law and constitutional jurisprudence to the Constitution. The restoration of constitutional government has been the one area in which modern conservatism has had the least success. From Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, conservative economic policies have been (more or less) pursued,...

She is female...She is Black...She is a Conservative...She is a Constructionist...She is a Christian...She was confirmed to the appealate court by this Senate by a vote of 56-43 only a few weeks age...She is hated by every left wing group and Rat in America. So you gotta love her See her impressibe bio at: http://www.nationalmorality.com/index_files/Page1404.htm

Alabama U.S. Senator Richard Shelby says it won't take long to determine if Democrats will be obstructionists or if they are interested in working with Republicans in the 109th Congress. "We'll find out soon if Democrats want to work with us," said Shelby, himself a former Democrat who changed parties in 1994 without losing popularity with most of his constituents. "I know they're smarting from the election. They are 55-44 minority (one Independent) in the Senate. They are a minority in the House. But I'm willing to meet them halfway." Shelby, who held a town hall meeting in Troy last...

Who sits on the Supreme Court for life may be more important than who sits in the White House for four years. With vacancies to fill among federal judges in general and vacancies expected to occur on the aging Supreme Court in particular, the stakes are very high in the judicial appointments made in the next few years. We and our children will be living with the consequences for a long time. This looks like an opportunity that may come just once in a lifetime to make judicial appointments that will stop the courts' dangerous pattern of continually eroding away the...

In 1790 Thomas Jefferson penned in a letter to James Madison his famous idea that "the Earth belongs to the living." With intricate mathematical calculations he determined the span of generations and reasoned that since present generations should not be bound by the decisions and compacts of past generations, all laws should expire every 19 years. Madison responded with a gentle -- but devastating -- counter, pointing out to his friend the practical problems with this idea and concluding that its implementation, by causing so much uncertainty in the continuity of arrangements, would be enormously harmful. For most of our...

Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court spoke in Chicago on October 12, 2002. He discussed his philosophy regarding interpretation of the United States Constitution. In this article, I will attempt to summarize the points made by this great jurist. Justice Scalia stated that he is an "originalist" in interpreting constitutional issues. He described his position as being one that seeks to divine the intent of the drafters of our Constitution. He pointed out that this is different from someone described as a "strict constructionist," who gives strict meaning and limited interpretation to the words of the Constitution....

Recasting the Constitution Republicans are strict constructionists only when it suits them. By Doug Bandow War with Iraq likely approaches, and it may be only the first of many if the Bush administration follows seriously its new doctrine of preemption. At least Congress voted on the record. Alas, if Iraq is any guide, Congress will only wave on this president or his successors in a future case, leaving them with plenary authority to go to war. And conservatives who now speak of remaking the judiciary to respect the Constitution will be leading the parade to abdicate Congress’ responsibility. Indeed, the...

font color="333366" face="baskerville old face" size=5>Attention Washington state voters: Please write-in Judge Steve Alexander for Position 4 on the Washington State Supreme Court. He is the only conservative in the race, and the only candidate who has not received a 100% rating by the Washington National Abortion Rights Action League Please visit JudgeSteveAlexander.com for more details. Forward this message around and help out the grassroots internet effort to elect Judge Alexander.