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July 07, 2005
No more legislating from the bench
When you hear the cries from right-wing radicals about activist judges it's usually accompanied by accusations of "legislating from the bench." I have to agree with them and I hope President Bush takes pains to nominate a judge who will not legislate from the bench.
From yesterday's New York Times:
We found that justices vary widely in their inclination to strike down Congressional laws [challenged at the Supreme Court level]. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, was the most inclined, voting to invalidate 65.63 percent of those laws; Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton, was the least, voting to invalidate 28.13 percent. The tally for all the justices appears below.
Thomas 65.63 %
Kennedy 64.06 %
Scalia 56.25 %
Rehnquist 46.88 %
O’Connor 46.77 %
Souter 42.19 %
Stevens 39.34 %
Ginsburg 39.06 %
Breyer 28.13 %
Posted by Half-Cocked at July 7, 2005 10:21 PM
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Comments
Orin Kerr comments on the article you reference.
Posted by: JR at July 9, 2005 08:31 AM
Jeremy, of course it is more complicated than how the article approaches it. I was just making a rhetorical point. Plus, I still think Bush v. Gore was the greatest example of judicial activism the Supreme Court has ever exhibited.
I do think it'd be interesting if someone ran those numbers against state legislatures.
Posted by: Steve at July 9, 2005 08:15 PM