Friday, April 08, 2005
Define "Activism" for me
Here's an article describing a conference of conservative leaders who spent the day criticizing the federal judiciary, specifically for its failure to intervene in the recent Terri Schiavo case. These Republicans and religious conservatives are denouncing what they call "activist judges" and making vague threats to take action.
Now, I'm a conservative myself, and I don't like activist judges any more than the next guy. But what the judges did in the Schiavo case was not activism. It was the very definition of passivism: they did nothing.
Go ahead and criticize judges if you disagree with their decisions (heaven knows I do). They're life-tenured; they can take it. But don't call a rabbit a goose. Judicial activism is the creation of new law or new rights where none existed before. It is not the refusal to hear a case or to make a new ruling.
Now, I'm a conservative myself, and I don't like activist judges any more than the next guy. But what the judges did in the Schiavo case was not activism. It was the very definition of passivism: they did nothing.
Go ahead and criticize judges if you disagree with their decisions (heaven knows I do). They're life-tenured; they can take it. But don't call a rabbit a goose. Judicial activism is the creation of new law or new rights where none existed before. It is not the refusal to hear a case or to make a new ruling.
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