Federal Judges Ignore Constitution      11/26/1997

Today, in America, a small group of people create law. They are not elected by you and me. Their judgments go unchallenged. They think they can do a better job running the country than the people. And, Americans are forced to abide by their decisions. Who are these people who seem to go against the very essence of our democratic republic? Federal judges.

Federal judges are appointed by the president, approved by Congress and given life-tenured positions. Increasingly, America suffers from judicial activism. Judicial activism occurs when a judge, believing a law is unjust, substitutes his or her own personal policy preferences over that law. Such judicial lawmaking is wrong, and unconstitutional. In our democracy, the people, through their elected representatives, or through referenda, enact laws. When unelected, life-tenured federal judges replace the law with rules of their own making. They deprive us of our most fundamental right, the right to self-government.

Although President Clinton vowed during his re-election campaign to oppose judicial activism, he is unwilling to follow through with his rhetoric. He has nominated Judge Margaret Marrow for the U.S. District Court in California.

Judge Marrow's writings show her activist views that the courts can be used for political and social change. In her own articles, she proclaimed that law is ”on the cutting edge of social thought“ and ”the vehicle“ for moving society from one set of rules to another. Some places she would like to move society include abortion rights, race preferences and comparable worth.

Enamored by the idea that government has the power -—although, lacks the authority -—to run peoples lives, her writings and actions show the disdain Judge Marrow has for self-government. She has an unhealthy distrust of voters. Writing in the Los Angeles Lawyer, she condemned the entire direct democracy process, charging that ”any real hope of intelligent voting“ was ”ephemeral.“ Her own articles show that in 1988 she urged fellow lawyers to denounce three California voter initiatives which she said were ”plain and simple, an attack on lawyers and the legal system.“

Unwilling to cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Marrow withheld nearly 40 articles, reports and speeches. Several of these clearly reflected her activist approach to the law.

If the Senate folds under the pressure of President Clinton, another judicial activist will be appointed to the federal court. America needs strong leaders who consider themselves under Constitutional law. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is protesting judicial activism with his Hatch Pledge. CWA supports the ”Hatch Pledge“ which states senators will not vote to confirm activist judges. Check to see if your Senator has signed the Hatch Pledge if not take action and ask your Senator to sign today.

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