Posted on 07/04/2005 5:41:28 PM PDT by CHARLITE
List of Characteristics Important to Black Americans Cited
Today's announcement of a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court provides President George W. Bush with an important duty that has the potential to affect judicial decision-making for generations to come. Members of the black leadership network Project 21 are calling upon the President to ensure that all nominees under consideration will preserve and protect the U.S Constitution.
Peter Kirsanow, a Project 21 member and commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said: "I'm confident that the President will nominate someone with integrity and wisdom who understands that the proper role of a Supreme Court justice is to interpret the text of the Constitution, rather than, as Justice Thomas put it, promote 'the faddish slogans of the cognoscenti.'"
A disturbing legal practice called "judicial activism" has been used to legitimize flag-burning, decreased private property rights protections and legalized partial-birth abortions against both popular opinion and legislative and constitutional direction. In response to the ongoing threat posed by this activism, Project 21's Judicial Working Group has compiled a list of criteria that President Bush and his advisors should consider when evaluating Supreme Court candidates:
* A commitment to a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
* Recognition of the importance of letting the state governments decide matters that exclusively involve state business.
* Uphold the Judeo-Christian heritage on which our nation and the Constitution were based.
* Be dedicated to individual rights and private property rights.
* Stand for the law over politics and not legislate from the courtroom.
* Have the conviction not to waver when pressured by outside influences.
Throughout his re-election campaign, President Bush promised, "I will continue to appoint federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law."
"We are not looking for a liberal or a conservative jurist to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. We are looking for a strict constructionist," said Project 21 member Mychal Massie. "We are looking for someone who can uphold the Constitution, not rewrite it."
Project 21 takes no position on the confirmation of any particular judicial nominee, but believes that it is in the best interest of the United States that judicial vacancies are filled with appropriate speed.
Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992. For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or Project21@nationalcenter.org, or visit Project 21's website at http://www.project21.org/P21Index.html.
New Visions Commentaries can be found at http://nationalcenter.org/P21NewVisions.html.
Char :)
That's one change in American politics in the last 100 years. Used to be that the citizens didn't think much beyond the street they lived on.
Did you read the article and these sentences: "I'm confident that the President will nominate someone with integrity and wisdom who understands that the proper role of a Supreme Court justice is to interpret the text of the Constitution, rather than, as Justice Thomas put it, promote 'the faddish slogans of the cognoscenti.'" or this "We are not looking for a liberal or a conservative jurist to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. We are looking for a strict constructionist," said Project 21 member Mychal Massie. "We are looking for someone who can uphold the Constitution, not rewrite it."
That doesn't sound very liberal to me -- in fact this whole group doesn't sound very liberal. Can you point out what I am missing in the article -- read it twice and don't understand your comments.
Thank you! I thought the same thing when I saw the headline and then I read the article several times to make sure it was what I thought it was and even then I thought I was missing something. Guess I was shocked to see their comments after all the comments by JJ and his ilk.
The U.S.A.,learn to correctly read posts on Free Republic or leave it.
project 21 bump
The headline gives you the group's position even without reading the article. A constructionist is one who believes that the constitution only means what it said when the framers wrote it. They don't view it as a living document that changes over time and with fads and styles.
You do know that Michael H. King (mhking) is on the advisory board of Project 21, don't you?
Project 21 bump! Black people need RKBA and private property rights (among others) even more than more economically-privileged groups.
well...
ahem...
Be it known that "I" have NEVER posted a response without reading the article first in all my years!!!
I knew the meaning of the word constructionists -- I thought I might be wrong because I didn't know about Project 21 -- if I knew Michael was a member I would have had no doubt.
The problem is all the liberal black/hispanic groups we keep hearing from and my first reaction was this is too good to be true. Then I saw the Freeper comments and thought I must have missed something.
ACLU, NAACP, LULAC and the list goes on of groups that I see articles from and the article doesn't match the headlines.
In this case, the head line and the article match perfectly and am really glad to read about this Project 21 group.
Your comments made me burst out laughing! Happy 4th of July!
Presently, only three justices meet the common-sense criteria demanded by Project 21. It's incredible that it even needs to be stated that Supreme Court justices should rule based on the Constitution's language and it's authors' original intent rather than on the chic political correctness of the day, as if the Constitution did not contain its own means for amendment.
But here we are - - the Supreme Court is top-heavy with pompous, liberal, activist scumbags and Bush has a chance to replace at least one of them with a new justice who has respect for American tradition and its founding principles.
Dubya better come through.
Another BIG BUMP for the amazing Project 21.
bttt
I have to agree with the criteria - a strict constructionist in the vein of Thomas or Scalia, certainly one who does not feel the urge to "legislate" from the bench - is who the President should choose.
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