|
|
|
COMMENTARY • October 2004 |
U.S. Supreme Court Term bleak for conservatives
Even one of the justices says the High Court is out of control
By Keith Peters, Focus on the Family
CHRISTIAN EXAMINER- Opinion |
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Conservatives can’t find much to smile about now that the Supreme Court has concluded its 2003-2004 session. Some are calling it “bleak.” Even Justice Antonin Scalia had harsh words for his colleagues on the court, saying they were incapable of admitting that some matters are none of the court’s business.
Colby May, an attorney with the pro-family American Center for Law and Justice, said conservatives have a right to be concerned about the court’s increasing power over what’s intended to be “government by the people.”
“This court seems willing to put itself in the business of the other branches and also seems willing to have a very strange view when it comes to religious liberties and religious rights,” May said.
Pro-family advocates cite the recent decisions regarding online child pornography, the denial of state funding for a divinity student’s education, and the dodging of the Pledge of Allegiance case as examples. Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, said this term is just another example of activist judges making laws “changing the culture of our society.”
“These judges have replaced the rule of law with the rule of their ideological will,” Thompson said.
Thompson calls it a tyranny of the courts, but reminds us there are two other branches of government: the executive and the legislative.
“Those branches of government must become courageous enough to stand and stop allowing the Supreme Court and other federal and state courts to take over what (are) their responsibilities,” Thompson said.
He said another possible solution is very simple—appoint judges who will follow the law, not make it. Thompson said he longs for the days of judicial restraint, where judges leave certain issues to the legislative branch, where, he said, the Founding Fathers intended them to be.
Once again this term, many of the issues were decided by the swing votes of Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy. Even a normally pro-family conservative, Justice Clarence Thomas, proved to be a swing vote against the Child Online Porn Act.
From family.org, a Web site of Focus on the Family. © 2004, Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
|
All site contents copyright© Christian Examiner™ (formerly the Christian Times)
Christian Examiner™, P.O. Box 2606 El Cajon, CA 92021 • 619-668-5100 • Fax 619-668-1115
Email: info@christianexaminer.com • Web site: www.christianexaminer.com |
|
