Attorney General Gonzalez says Federal Judges are Unqualified to Make Rulings Affecting National Security
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16668110/
original article at URL above, my commentary below the article contents
Full Article:
Gonzales raps 'activist' judges
Attorney general says federal jurists should defer to president's will
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:07 a.m. ET Jan 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says federal judges are
unqualified to make rulings affecting national security policy, ramping up his
criticism of how they handle terrorism cases.
In remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday, Gonzales says judges generally
should defer to the will of the president and Congress when deciding national
security cases. He also raps jurists who “apply an activist philosophy that
stretches the law to suit policy preferences.”
The text of the speech, scheduled for delivery at the American Enterprise
Institute, was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. It outlines, in part,
what qualities the Bush administration looks for when selecting candidates for
the federal bench.
“We want to determine whether he understands the inherent limits that make an
unelected judiciary inferior to Congress or the president in making policy
judgments,” Gonzales says in the prepared speech. “That, for example, a
judge will never be in the best position to know what is in the national
security interests of our country.”
Challenges to Bush policies
Gonzales did not cite any specific activist jurists, or give examples of
national security cases, in his prepared text. The Justice Department is
appealing an August decision by U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in
Detroit, who ruled the government’s warrantless surveillance program
unconstitutional and ordered it stopped immediately.
The Justice Department appealed her decision and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Cincinnati has ruled that the administration can keep the program in
place during the appeal.
Attorneys representing terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay are challenging
the legality of a law, signed by President Bush in October, that authorizes
military trials. Those challenges raise the possibility that trials will be
struck down by a federal appeals court or the Supreme Court.
Gonzales, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, has in the past warned about
judges who inject their personal beliefs in cases. But his prepared remarks
Wednesday mark his sharpest words over concerns about the federal judiciary —
the third, and equal, branch of government.
Judges who “apply an activist philosophy that stretches the law to suit policy
preferences, they actually reduce the credibility and authority of the
judiciary,” Gonzales says. “In so doing, they undermine the rule of law that
strengthens our democracy.”
Even so, Gonzales characterized efforts to retaliate against unpopular rulings
as misguided, noting a failed South Dakota proposal to sue or jail judges for
making unpopular court decisions. He also called for Congress to consider
increasing the number of federal judges to handle heavy workloads, and to offer
them higher salaries to lure and keep the best jurists on the bench.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16668110/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2007 MSNBC.com
This is clearly an attempt by the current adminstration to disrupt the checks
and blances system our founding fathers established and a basic principle on
which this nation was founded. To even voice such an idea that judes and jurors
should bend to the will of the President and Congress no matter what the law
says goes far beyond treason! Why people aren't rioting in the streets over
this, I simply can't understand. These are our rights... our lives and futures
are being taken away from us while we watch and yet where is the outcry? Where
is the outrage for that matter? The founding fathers would have been in the
streets over this (armed no less), and do you see marches and protests everyday?
Actually there are marches and protests every day but our media doesn't cover
them! They want us to believe that no one else cares... but I know you, and
others do. And we aren't going to let them keep screwing us, taking our rights
and freedoms, outsourcing our jobs, funding and supporting an invasion of our
own nation while sending our troops to invade others. We're fed up, and if you
aren't already active, get active. Spread the word about what's going on. When
enough of us say, "No more", we'll have a starting point to change
things back to how they were supposed to be. We'll have a chance to revive our
nation, our Constitution, and our Bill of Rights. What Gonzales outlined above
is nothing more than a direct attack on our Constitution, our country and its
citizens by taking away the power to declare laws un-Constitutional or otherwise
illegal/unjust. But after all, the president is the "decider-in-chief"
so I'm sure he has our best interests at heart, so it must all be ok!
For more information/analysis visit: www.anti-deercoalition.com
Send this to everyone you know, this is very important information that hasn't
been picked up on by many in the media. I apologize for spelling errors or
typos, this was a quickly written bit because this information is vital and
needs to be spread asap! Spread the word, our freedoms, rights and future depend
on it!
Thank you and God Bless,
ADH
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