By Cliff Zarsky
For many years Supreme Court justices have been allowed to render final judgment on social and moral issues including the death penalty, abortion, homosexual agendas, religious displays, the Pledge of Allegiance and other matters. Indeed, the "checks and balances" designed by our forefathers have been overruled by a judiciary who attempts to seize total control of our true rights. That’s why Thomas Jefferson warned that an out-of-control judiciary would destroy the Constitution and Americans’ fundamental freedoms. Likewise, our first president George Washington warned that no branch of government should encroach on the others, for it could lead to despotism. Yet this power takeover is a judges’ war on our country.
So the issue of judicial tyranny is on the table. If the GOP, with its majorities in both chambers of Congress and its man in the White House, does not dethrone it now, it may never.
What about reshaping the Supreme Court by naming new "strict constructionists"? Great idea—but problematic. It takes decades to change the court and there’s no guarantee that the justice nominated will turn out as hoped. President Eisenhower named Warren and Brennan. President Nixon named Blackmun of Roe v. Wade infamy. President Ford nominated ultraliberal Stevens, President Reagan named O’Connor and Kennedy, then President Bush the elder named stealth liberal Souter.
Is the cause of restraining a renegade court hopeless? Are we destined to live under a judicial dictatorship? No and the remedy is in the Constitution and the GOP platform. Under Article III, Section 2, a simple majority of Congress with President Bush’s signature can almost wholly restrict the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has never denied that power given to Congress and the president.
Will President Bush press the Senate and the House in restricting the Court’s jurisdiction over legalized abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, the Pledge of Allegiance and other social and moral issues that were never intended to be the sole decision of the courts? If not, he is not serious. And if the House and Senate will not follow such leadership, conservatives should stop wasting time and money on their campaigns.
The battle against judicial dictatorship is winnable and there’s no excuse for not fighting it.
Cliff Zarsky is a Corpus Christi, Texas attorney and former assistant district attorney who prosecuted felony abortion cases. Since 1974, he has represented pro-life clients and causes. He is a member of the American Life League board of advisors.
Source: American Life League
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