By Terry Phillips, correspondent
Focus on the Family
July 25, 2003


Why are conservatives so concerned about who gets on the federal bench?
Recent decisions by federal courts have overruled legislatures, votes of
the people and amendments to state constitutions. The rulings give ample
evidence for concern over who will be chosen — and what philosophies will
hold sway — on the federal bench.

For instance, the Florida Supreme Court recently struck down a parental
notification law requiring that moms and dads be told of their daughter's
decision to seek an abortion — despite the fact that the law was passed by
the state Legislature.

Richard Lessner, with the Family Research Council, who is co-author of a
commentary titled "The Tyranny of Judges, said the Florida ruling is
symptomatic of a wider problem.

"It really reflects a very profound problem, and that is: How do you
restrain a runaway judiciary?" Lessner asked. "We increasingly see a
judiciary that is happy to rule as autocrats. What is at stake is the
people's ability to govern themselves."

Rick Duncan, a constitutional law professor at the University of Nebraska
School of Law, believes Americans are too much in awe of judicial opinions
— especially decisions from the Supreme Court that claim a "right" of
privacy in order to legalize such practices as sodomy and abortion.
"What the average person doesn't understand, is the (U.S.) Constitution
says nothing about sodomy, nothing about abortion, nothing about privacy,"
Duncan said. "The court is simply making it up."

Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, thinks
today's judiciary would be unrecognizable to the Founding Fathers.
"I think the founders would be shocked to see that the judges have this
kind of power, that they're like autocrats," Lorence said. "That, to me,
sounds much more . . . like we're being ruled by kings and emperors."
Professor Duncan put it this way: "The Supreme Court is basically sitting
as an on-going constitutional convention, making up rules that govern all
of us and decreeing them from the bench."