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| Home Front: Politix |
| Justice Dies, Judges Recuse, What to Do |
| 2005-09-06 |
| One person's perspective on what Rehnquist's death might mean for us all. Thanks for reading, GT |
| Posted by:Angiter Jolung1414 |
| #2 And then again. maybe not. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-09-06 12:24 |
| #1 Those are the convenient divides, between liberalism and conservative; or judicial activism and constitutional construtionism. But they might not be the best description of what is taking place. The political landscape is one where the republican party has achieved ascendency, and the democratic party has been effectively crushed. This is an extreme of a normal cycle of politics in the US. As such, the extremists of both parties hold power for the moment. The far left's control of the democrats is obvious, but the far right can thwart much of the republican's agenda. The republicans are also reduced by their party's RINO voters. So what happens from here? Or really, what political change is coming that will be reflected on the Supreme Court? Democrat moderates will, over time, evolve into taking control of the party's leadership. This will be because by cooperating with republicans, these moderates will get largesse denied their radical peers. And with these democrat votes, the republicans will be able to marginalize their own extremists. The RINOs will also be neutralized in the process of both parties moderating what they do. The bottom line is that the Court will moderate its views. Less inclined to decisions that are major wins and losses to each side. More willing to follow the constitution, but less willing to upset precedent that challenged the constitition. An intent to overall give the people what they want. It will appear that the court is ducking the serious issues, also that it writes narrow decisions, avoiding the "slash and burn" approach to jurisprudence. There may even be a greater unwillingness to overturn lower court decisions, even to accept so very many cases in the first place. The Supremes may also provide opinions to congress as to the much overdue reorganization of the federal court system, and such things as term limits for judges, and mandated jurisdictional limitations--that is, restrictions placed on the types of cases heard by the courts. So the court, too, after the liberal excesses of the Warren Court, and the rightward shift of the Rehnquist Court, may, like congress, shift back towards moderation, in its purest sense, and calm administration, instead of ground-breaking decisions effecting millions of Americans. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-09-06 12:15 |