Finally, finally, finally! Finally, someone takes notice of the right wing radicals who are trying to undo American government by attacking the judiciary, weakening the legislature, and empowering the executive.

Catherine Crier writes a blog post about her new book, CONTEMPT – How the Right is Wronging American Justice. Allow me to quote liberally… so to speak:

The extreme Right has conquered the executive and legislative branches of government, but it has not been able to bring the federal courts to heel…yet. Undoubtedly, this group has a prodigious impact on the Supreme Court and the other federal courts, but it wants so much more. Its leaders have taken an entity that innately resists politics and turned it into a highly politicized battle zone. They seethe over this unelected, independent third branch of government, the last bulwark between the American people and their attempted coup. That some federal judges have proven well educated, fair, and unintimidated by these voices and methods has further stymied their best-laid plans. The extreme Right may control a good part of the castle, but they have yet to breach the citadel. Only, make no mistake, they mean to bring every last wall crashing down.

The Far Right wants to control our federal judiciary in order to enact this reactionary agenda. At first blush, the focus seems to center on social issues—abortion, gay rights, affirmative action, and religion in schools. These items certainly garner the most press attention, but don’t be fooled.

[snip]

There is another insidious aspect to their designs. Economic and political issues are crucial to them as well. If they are successful in our federal courts, this plot will have a profound impact on citizens in every arena. They are making efforts to curtail federal regulation of businesses, environmental protections, worker’s rights, bankruptcy laws, tort liability, and property interests, among other causes.


This radical group also wants much more control exerted by the states. For over a century, the federal courts have built a safety net in order to protect the constitutional rights of every American. But Edwin Meese began arguing in the 1980s that the Bill of Rights does not apply to the states, and now the extreme Right supports his assertion that such Constitutional protections only exist to inhibit action by the national government. They want our individual guarantees surrendered back to the states, where enforcement will diminish and maybe disappear altogether.


Despite the Far Right’s claims that they want the courts to leave Congress alone, they actually aim to reduce congressional authority. They want ultraconservative judges to strike down a great deal more federal legislation and to negate decades of legal precedent—the very definition of “reactionary.” The extreme Right may argue against judicial “activism,” but they certainly know how to practice it. And through it all, they camouflage these issues under a shiny veneer of values, morality, and religion.


Should the nation have minimum wage laws? Should corporations be held responsible when they commit serious wrongs? Should our environment, the air and water, be protected from polluters large and small? Should the Bill of Rights apply to all of the states, or should we have fifty different fiefdoms wherein a simple majority of state legislators can decide our fates?


For the first time since the early twentieth century, these items are actually in play.


Of course, the key to each and every one of these issues is the federal courts. And this drives the extreme Right to distraction. They have nothing but disdain for the founding fathers’ belief in three branches of government and the prescient system of checks and balances. Indeed, they are rewriting America’s revolutionary history to accommodate their point of view.

I have been on about this for years, and I have been increasingly worried lately by the right’s growing power and their continual attacks on the judiciary. This week, as John Roberts’ confirmation hearings begin, all Americans should be paying close attention to the role judges play in our system of government. For any true American, for any true “originalists” out there, the idea that our system of government could function with anything less than a strong, independent judiciary should be absurd. Yet the right is closer than ever to making that claim stick. True Americans must not let that happen.

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Tuesday, September 13th, 2005 @ 1:03 am Freedom Matters
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