Concordia res Parvae Crescunt
The San Francisco Chronicle Reports:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Wednesday warned federal judges not to meddle in cases involving national security, following a string of judicial rebukes of the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism initiatives.
In a speech to the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, Gonzales said federal judges are not “equipped to make decisions about” actions the president takes in the name of preserving national security.
Let’s be clear here. It is absolutely the role – the mandate – of the judicial branch to make decisions on whether or not the actions of the president (the whole government for that matter) fall within the powers allowed by the Constitution.
But wait, there’s more:
Gonzales added that the judiciary should show deference to the executive branch when national security is involved, because, unlike the Bush administration, judges “don’t have embassies around the world gathering up information.”
Whether or not this is now “official policy” is not the issue. The fact remains that a high-ranking executive branch official gave a “direction” to the judicial branch to stop looking at the constitutionality of the actions of the executive. Sounds pretty strange, doesn’t it?
The federal government cannot legally wield any power that is not specifically granted by the Constitution. According to the Tenth Amendment, powers not expressly delegated to the federal government are reserved “to the states respectively or to the people.â€
Nowhere in the Constitution is there a power to allow the executive to direct the judiciary in any way. Nowhere in the Constitution is there a power for the judiciary to decline to ajudicate actions by the government because of a “direction” or “recommendation” by the Attorney General.
Since these powers are not delegated to the federal government, then they must be among those powers reserved “to the states respectively or to the people.†Simply put, the executive branch is not constitutionally empowered to “meddle” in the affiars of the Judiciary, whatsover.
The courts are the last line of defense that “we the people” have to protect ourselves from abuses by the legislative and executive branches. If judges collude with either of the other two branches of government, then the separation of powers, and thus, all hopes for individual liberty, will collapse.
If this becomes policy of the executive, or practice of the judiciary, there will be an absolute need for us to call for the resignation or impeachment of judges who refuse to carry out their duty.
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Amy, thanks for the input. You're absolutely correct that the Judiciary shouldn't be "legislating from the bench" Their role is to rule as to whether cases before them fit into the Constitution or not.
Unfortunately, their rules have often taken away our rights - most notably in the Kelo decision violating the 5th amendment.
But this has absolutely NO bearing on whether or not the executive should follow the constitution or not.
If one were to follow your reasoning, we'd end up with a run away train. (which is already the case) You're saying the Executive should only follow the constitution if the Judiciary does, or is that vice versa?
Each branch has an absolute duty to follow the Constitution - no matter what the other branches are doing.
If the executive branch should leave the judicial branch alone then the judicial branch shouldn't legislate from its benches.
It is called Checks and Balances. Mr. Bush and his pet Coconut Gonzalas could care less about the Constitution and Bill of RIghts. They have their own agenda. And their agenda is called Treason. They need to be tried for such. If we don't stop them now, then we and our children and their children will suffer. If you don't think what I am saying is true, then look to Germany and the former USSR and see how they are still paying for their inactions against such criminals.
Impeach Bush, forget the judges, thats just stupid let Bush get away with all and lets start eatting our own.
Tenther Radio!
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
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