Newt’s Followers and the Courts

The Right was to demonstrate demonstrated impatience with the courts when they took positions contrary to what conservatives expected. When the judiciary failed to support indefinitely prolonging the life of brain-damaged Terry Schiavo Texans Representative Tom De Lay and Senator John Cornyn made statements that seemed to justify violence against judges. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor both received death threats because they cited foreign law in footnotes. They were not advocating adoption of those laws, but simply noting how others defined and approached common problems. The Right has made this a significant issue and has proposed legislation forbidding judges from citing foreign law and courts. In these contexts, O’Connor as a retired justice felt compelled to speak out against interference with the judiciary noting that such steps could the beginning of degeneration into dictatorship. Reverend Dr. James Dobson, a psychologist, noted that Congress had the power to abolish the liberal Ninth Circuit Court, and DeLay added, “We set up the courts. We can unset the courts.” The New York Times editors suggested she also had in mind legislation sharply limiting review of military commission actions regarding detainees. When this legislation passed, the Bush administration immediately announced it would apply it to 160 pending cases, even though the law did not refer to pending cases.

Hostile to judicial restraints, Congressional Republicans stood by while George W. Bush set up an unauthorized wiretap program. The cooperated in Dick Cheney's effort to eviscerate the FISA Court, which had been set up to police electronic surveillance of foreign intelligence operatives within the United States. They have come close to achieving this goal when Congress was under Democratic control in 2007-2008, as fefw Democrats are willing to stand up and be counted. The Dems fear being called weak on defense. At the same time, the Republicans, with Democratic help, nullified a court decision on the rights of detainees and established passed the Military Commissions ACt, which even makes testimony acquired from torture admissible.



Sherman has written African American Baseball: A Brief History, which can be acquired from LuLu Publishing on line.http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?search_forum