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opinion
What the Constitution Tells Us About How Senators Should Consider Obama’s Judicial Nominees
What exactly is the Senate’s role of “Advice and Consent” when it comes to the nominations made by a president? It’s a topic of perpetual debate in Washington. One wrong-headed argument holds the role to be quite modest: Senators should defer to a president’s choices except in extreme circumstances. That position is advanced far too often by… -
news
Senator Reveals Full Scope of Democrats’ ‘Manufactured’ Judicial Confirmation Crisis
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is pushing back on Democratic charges that the GOP-led Senate has dropped the ball on judicial confirmations under President Barack Obama. Grassley took to the Senate floor Monday after his colleagues confirmed the 314th judicial nominee since the president took office, noting that by this time in 2007, under… -
news
Ted Cruz: ‘Tragic’ Supreme Court Decisions Are ‘Judicial Activism’
DES MOINES, Iowa—At a campaign appearance here, Sen. Ted Cruz on Saturday railed against two “tragic” Supreme Court decisions, criticizing the verdicts as “judicial activism.” “Both decisions were judicial activism, plain and simple,” said Cruz, referring to the Supreme Court’s decisions to legalize gay marriage and allow nationwide health care subsidies under Obamacare. “Even in… -
opinion
Judicial Activism From Supreme Court on Marriage. Here’s How to Respond.
Today is a significant setback for all Americans who believe in the Constitution, the rule of law, democratic self-government, and marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The U.S. Supreme Court got it wrong: It should not have mandated all 50 states to redefine marriage. This is judicial activism: nothing in the… -
opinion
Judicial Activism on Marriage, Like Abortion, Can Cause Harms
Forty-two years ago, in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, the Supreme Court tried to settle the abortion debate by declaring the Constitution somehow creates a right to abortion in all 50 states. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires abortion in all 50 states, and that’s why Roe is rightly viewed as an activist decision, as explained in this… -
opinion
Should a Judicial Candidate Be Able to Request Campaign Contributions?
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in its first campaign finance case since it threw out the aggregate limit on campaign contributions to federal candidates last year in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. But this latest case involves the rules pertaining to state elections in Florida, not federal elections,… -
opinion
Was This Obamacare Court Decision Judicial Activism?
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. claims that last week’s D.C. Circuit decision striking down Obamacare subsidies for individuals enrolled in federally-run health care exchanges was “extreme judicial activism.” That’s a loaded term too often used by those who don’t like the outcome of a particular case. But judicial activism is not simply in the… -
opinion
Why a President’s Judicial Appointments Matter
One issue voters often overlook when selecting presidential candidates is what type of judges those candidates will support. These are lifetime appointments, and a two-term president could nominate hundreds of judges to the federal judiciary – with advice and consent of the Senate. From trial-level district court judges to the justices on the U.S. Supreme… -
opinion
Was the California Teacher Tenure Decision Judicial Activism?
This week, in Vergara v. California, California Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu struck down five state laws governing teacher tenure, layoffs and dismissals as unconstitutional under the California constitution. The result of this ruling is certainly good for children in California, too many of whom are stuck in classrooms with “grossly ineffective” teachers. But was…
