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What is a 'conservative' judge?
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Race
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Apr 12, 2010 06:02pm |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Author | Michael Kinsley |
| News Date | Monday, April 12, 2010 08:25:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Supreme Court confirmations have become a festival of code words. One of the most confusing is "conservative." What is a conservative judge? In fact, this can mean three very different things.
It can mean a strong belief in the principle of stare decisis, or respect for precedent. Problem: Does that mean that a conservative judge must rule in favor of upholding all of the liberal rulings of the 1960s and 1970s? Even though many of them overturned earlier precedents?
Conservative can mean a narrow view of the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights: Justices appointed for life should be modest in their ambitions. They should stick to the "original meaning" of the document, avoid "activism," and be slow to overturn the workings of the democratic branches.
Problem: Many specific items on the conservative agenda violate this principle. Conservatives have been saying that judges or justices ought to overturn health care reform. They cheered when the court decimated the campaign spending laws. They want courts to outlaw affirmative action. They want to use the Fifth Amendment's ban on government taking "property" without due process of law, in order to forbid a wide variety of government activities.
Conservative can mean simply judges who use their power to impose a conservative political agenda. Problem: This would be a gross violation of the other two alleged principles. |
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