DesertFox
03-29-2006, 06:25 PM
Walter E. Williams
Townhall.com
29 Mar 06
Are federal, state and local justices appointed to office to impose their personal views on society or to interpret law? Is it a judge's duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution, and state constitutions in the cases of state and local judges, or is it their duty to uphold foreign law and United Nations treaties? Should what a judge sees as "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights govern court decisions, or the U.S. Constitution?
It was the former, not the U.S. Constitution, that determined last year's Roper v. Simmons decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the execution of a convicted murderer because he was 17 years old at the time of his offense. Judges have used their power to impose their own values on our society. They've ordered federal and state agencies to spend billions of dollars to carry out their favorite policies. They've ordered legislatures to raise taxes. In pursuit of their vision of justice, they've forced universities, businesses and government agencies to engage in race and sex discrimination.
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker has little patience with his colleagues who use their office to impose their values instead of applying the written law, but he's in trouble for saying so. Judge Parker wrote an opinion article that was published in The Birmingham News on Jan. 1. It criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision that banned executions for murderers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. He also criticized his Alabama Supreme Court colleagues who followed the high court's ruling when they set aside the execution of a young Alabama death row inmate, Renaldo Adams, who was 17 at the time when he brutally raped and repeatedly stabbed a pregnant woman, then left her to die in the presence of three children.
More (http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/walterwilliams/2006/03/29/191511.html)
Townhall.com
29 Mar 06
Are federal, state and local justices appointed to office to impose their personal views on society or to interpret law? Is it a judge's duty to uphold the U.S. Constitution, and state constitutions in the cases of state and local judges, or is it their duty to uphold foreign law and United Nations treaties? Should what a judge sees as "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society" and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights govern court decisions, or the U.S. Constitution?
It was the former, not the U.S. Constitution, that determined last year's Roper v. Simmons decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the execution of a convicted murderer because he was 17 years old at the time of his offense. Judges have used their power to impose their own values on our society. They've ordered federal and state agencies to spend billions of dollars to carry out their favorite policies. They've ordered legislatures to raise taxes. In pursuit of their vision of justice, they've forced universities, businesses and government agencies to engage in race and sex discrimination.
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker has little patience with his colleagues who use their office to impose their values instead of applying the written law, but he's in trouble for saying so. Judge Parker wrote an opinion article that was published in The Birmingham News on Jan. 1. It criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision that banned executions for murderers who were under 18 when they committed their crimes. He also criticized his Alabama Supreme Court colleagues who followed the high court's ruling when they set aside the execution of a young Alabama death row inmate, Renaldo Adams, who was 17 at the time when he brutally raped and repeatedly stabbed a pregnant woman, then left her to die in the presence of three children.
More (http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/walterwilliams/2006/03/29/191511.html)