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Home » News » News » The dangers of legislating from the bench
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The dangers of legislating from the bench

John MacGregorBy John MacGregorOctober 19, 2020Updated:October 19, 2020No Comments2 Mins Read
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I listened last week to the questioning of Judge Amy Coney Barrett by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and became interested in why its liberal members took the tack they did in their examination of her.

No dispute, Judge Barrett is eminently qualified to serve as a member of the Supreme Court. However, it has become abundantly clear that progressives want the Supreme Court to validate their agenda when they are unable to convince the American people to support it.

By jumping to the courts to create judicial law, a minority of clever lawyers can thwart the will of the people and the Constitution. Using the courts to make law negates the people’s ability to self-govern, and destroys the high court’s independence.

Another pernicious effect of judicial legislating is the destruction of the basic assumption of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that government is instituted to protect and defend the people’s property and inalienable rights.

The ability to use the courts as a super-legislature corrupts the other branches of government by breaking down the checks and balances needed to prevent the abuse of power that always hovers over the majority.

Parallel with the court taking over most legislative functions of Congress is the development of special interest pressure groups and the exponential growth of money flowing into Washington D.C. Through these D.C. highways, the political elites usurp the people’s power to self-govern and keep the powers and perks of unlimited government to themselves.

The most egregious effect of judicial legislating is the removal of the people as the object of government’s existence. The Constitution’s design limits power within the branches of government and controls the human tendency to use the levers of power for personal gain. 

Giving judges the ability to make law takes the power from the people, politicizes the court and turns justices and judges into political operatives; an agenda used by despots.

The only complaint that the left has against Judge Amy Coney Barrett is that she breaks the progressive hold on the judiciary, thwarting their ability to create law and gain power over people without their consent.  

Our constitutional government, unique in the world, is designed to benefit the American people, not the government, politicians, their families, and/or their friends. Judicial legislating totally undermines self-governance as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Amy Coney Barrett Commentary courts Featured federal court judicial activism judiciary SCOTUS state court Supreme Court
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John MacGregor

John "Jock" MacGregor is a student of history and politics, a pursuit he has enjoyed for most of his 79 years. Jock attended Villanova University’s School of Education; served in the U.S. Marine Corps; and is an entrepreneur with enterprises in restaurants, construction and boatbuilding. Mr. MacGregor was managing editor of an online news site in Hot Springs Arkansas. Currently, Jock comments on the role of government in society. Jock believes in a constitutionally limited government, instituted by the people, to protect their rights to life, liberty and property.

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