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DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 08:12 AM Sep 2017

Imagine a judge who believes that her personal opinion overrides oath, settled law and constitution.

https://www.afj.org/reports/nominee-report-amy-coney-barrett

After Senator Daniel Coats did not return the blue slip for President Obama’s nominee to the court, Myra Selby, on May 8, 2017, President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett, a professor at the Notre Dame Law School, to fill the vacancy.

...

Stunningly, Barrett has asserted that judges should not follow the law or the Constitution when it conflicts with their personal religious beliefs. In fact, Barrett has said that judges should be free to put their personal views ahead of their judicial oath to faithfully follow the law. This position is antithetical to the fair and impartial functioning of the federal judiciary. Moreover, Barrett has said that judges should not be bound by stare decisis, the doctrine that requires them to follow well-settled law. Barrett’s extreme view on stare decisis threatens the very foundation of our common law tradition.
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Imagine a judge who believes that her personal opinion overrides oath, settled law and constitution. (Original Post) DetlefK Sep 2017 OP
Go ahead and rule that way -- only be prepared to have a whole bunch of no_hypocrisy Sep 2017 #1
I was just going to say, if I were an appellate attorney, I would move to her jurisdiction. stevenleser Sep 2017 #2
Judges like this drain resources ThoughtCriminal Sep 2017 #15
And generally, that leads to impeachment as they hinder and harm no_hypocrisy Sep 2017 #18
Extremely rare, and mostly for bribery and corruption ThoughtCriminal Sep 2017 #19
And here, I was listening to Republicans whining for fifty years DFW Sep 2017 #3
Yup. n/t progressoid Sep 2017 #4
heh, was just what I was going to throw in! Amimnoch Sep 2017 #7
All Strict Constructionist, And Especially Originalists. . . ProfessorGAC Sep 2017 #11
The habit of projecting did not begin with Trump... Wounded Bear Sep 2017 #12
"religious beliefs" rock Sep 2017 #5
Is she kidding??? syringis Sep 2017 #6
that's not a judge, that's a mini dictator treestar Sep 2017 #8
I think she would make a perfect judge SCantiGOP Sep 2017 #9
I believe her position is illegal... tomp Sep 2017 #10
Excellent point. Duppers Sep 2017 #14
If these weren't the TWITLER era, I would say "incredible" UTUSN Sep 2017 #13
AKA: "Notre Dame" and "Roe v. Wade." IMO. WinkyDink Sep 2017 #16
I don't want her confirmed, but I also read her 1998 article onenote Sep 2017 #17

no_hypocrisy

(46,310 posts)
1. Go ahead and rule that way -- only be prepared to have a whole bunch of
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 08:17 AM
Sep 2017

decisions overturned on appeal and your reputation as a capable jurist impugned. That is NOT how the law applied to a specific set of facts is done. I believe it's called judicial activism. One might see an impeachment down the road.

 

stevenleser

(32,886 posts)
2. I was just going to say, if I were an appellate attorney, I would move to her jurisdiction.
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 08:19 AM
Sep 2017

Lots of business to be drummed up.

ThoughtCriminal

(14,052 posts)
15. Judges like this drain resources
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 10:23 PM
Sep 2017

Even if every bogus ruling is overturned, it wastes time and money from citizens who often do not have the resources to carry the fight to the next level.

DFW

(54,506 posts)
3. And here, I was listening to Republicans whining for fifty years
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 08:21 AM
Sep 2017

AGAINST activist judges. They forgot to add: "...if they are not Republican."

 

Amimnoch

(4,558 posts)
7. heh, was just what I was going to throw in!
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 11:03 AM
Sep 2017

All of their screaming about "legislating from the bench."

Seems to be completely the hypocritical par for the course of Mar A Lago these days.

They screamed about President Obama not having enough experience in government in 2008.. then elect this in 2016.

They scream about family values, and even want to legislate them.. then elect the 3x married 5 children across 3 wives president.

They scream about going nuclear on the filibuster when it was used to block 76 judicial appointments before the nuclear option was engaged.. many of those 76 given with no reason or cause.. THEN go nuclear on the very first attempt to appoint a justice, filibustered with reason, and cause.

They cry about big government and government intervention and spending.. THEN scream for FEMA funds when one of their states has a natural disaster. (clarification here, I'm only referring to the state in the capacity of a Republican governor, electoral collage, and senators. I'm not insinuating that the state is all republican or doesn't deserve assistance. Just pointing out their hypocrisy on it)

As a party, they really have no shame at all, and their hypocrisy seems to really have no bounds or limits at all.

ProfessorGAC

(65,397 posts)
11. All Strict Constructionist, And Especially Originalists. . .
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 11:13 AM
Sep 2017

. . .have been activist jurists for the last 75 years.

Look at Mafia Tony. His claim that he didn't interpret the Constitution, but interpreted what the framers were THINKING when they wrote it, based upon other stuff they wrote afterward. In other words, he was practicing judicial activism by making decisions on his ability to read the minds of people who have been dead for nearly 200 years.

And he was interpreting the Constitution while not interpreting the Constitution.

These judges have been scam artists since the Truman era, at least.

Almost nobody, absent Warren and Fortas, have been as activist as the conservatives on the court.

Wounded Bear

(58,776 posts)
12. The habit of projecting did not begin with Trump...
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 11:14 AM
Sep 2017

Repubs have been doing this for many, many years.

rock

(13,218 posts)
5. "religious beliefs"
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 10:39 AM
Sep 2017

Oh yeah, those things that have no proof, nor evidence, nor logic, nor rationality, etc. Gotcha!

Ps. Yeah

syringis

(5,101 posts)
6. Is she kidding???
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 10:41 AM
Sep 2017

A law's professor who advocates to open the door to arbitrariness and abuses??

As lawyer, it shivers down my spine

Bon sang mais qu'est-ce qu'il ne faut pas entendre !!!

treestar

(82,383 posts)
8. that's not a judge, that's a mini dictator
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 11:04 AM
Sep 2017

You'd be surprised how many of them think they have carte blanche to do what they want as opposed to what the law requires.

 

tomp

(9,512 posts)
10. I believe her position is illegal...
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 11:08 AM
Sep 2017

...and taking a judicial oath while holding and espousing that belief is tantamount to perjury.

onenote

(42,831 posts)
17. I don't want her confirmed, but I also read her 1998 article
Thu Sep 7, 2017, 10:29 PM
Sep 2017

And what it says is that judges who have a moral objection to the death penalty should recuse themselves from death penalty cases.

Frankly, its a poorly written and reasoned article, but it doesn't advocate that judges shouldn't follow the law -- it advocates that judges should recuse themselves from death penalty cases if they're morally opposed to the death penalty.

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