Free Republic

For quite some time now conservative Republicans have been screaming about activist judges who put their own political opinions above the law. And they've been right to complain. But now, thanks to socially conservative voters in Alabama, we learn that they didn't really mean it. What bothered them weren't activist judges in general -- just liberal activist judges. Conservative activism by a judge who gets his marching orders from the Bible is fine. Republican social conservatives in Alabama, many of them evangelical Christians, elected former state judge Roy Moore as their nominee to run next month for the United States...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday that the Washington Redskins nickname is "disparaging of Native Americans" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled. The 2-1 ruling comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year. The team doesn't immediately lose trademark protection and is allowed to retain it during an appeal.

Mark Levin writes: Paul Mulshine, or Moonshine if your prefer, believes justices should be free to do whatever they want, as long as they do what he wants them to do. Moonshine believes a judge's job it is to do good, or justice, or spread liberty, or whatever. The problem, of course, is that liberal judicial activists believe they are doing exactly the same thing. The standard is to apply the Constitution as best as possible. That's what "originalism" means. That's what great conservative judicial and constitutional scholars have argued from the beginning. Moonshine is a jackass.

On Monday, Jan. 11, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will put the people of California on trial for voting against gay marriage. The case will be a show trial in a kangaroo court. I don't say that lightly of any federal judge, but Judge Walker's extraordinary bias has already been flagrantly on display. Take the trial itself. The constitutionality of Proposition 8 is not really a matter for a trial of fact. It's a question of law. But Judge Walker ordered one anyway. Why? Ordinarily a trial judge's rulings of fact cannot be questioned by higher courts. So the more...

Conventional “wisdom” suggests that the current political environment favors Democrats in 2008. The long Democratic primary between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama kept the focus on the candidates and away from the issues. Except for the broad themes of “hope” and “change” few Obama supporters can name a single position articulated by the Illinois senator. However, certain events may inject issues into the electoral debate that help John McCain and the Republicans. High gasoline prices have changed the dynamics of the national campaign, shifting public opinion toward offshore drilling and blaming Democrats for obstructing efforts to increase domestic energy...

Hundreds of grumbling parents facing a threat of jail lined up at a courthouse Saturday to either prove that their school-age kids already had their required vaccinations or see that the youngsters submitted to the needle. The get-tough policy in the Washington suburbs of Prince George's County was one of the strongest efforts made by any U.S. school system to ensure its youngsters receive their required immunizations.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Two men sealed the state's first legal same-sex marriage with a kiss Friday morning, less than 24 hours after a judge threw out Iowa's ban on gay marriage and about two hours before he put the ruling on hold. Sean Fritz, left, and Tim McQuillan show their wedding license before getting married. 1 of 3 It was a narrow window of opportunity. Thursday afternoon, Polk County Judge Robert Hanson temporarily cleared the way for same-sex couples across the state to apply for marriage licenses in Polk County. He ruled that Iowa's 1998 Defense of Marriage...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In a landmark ruling with nationwide implications, Lake County, Indiana Superior Court Judge Robert A. Pete on Monday declared unconstitutional a 2005 federal law backed by the gun lobby that sought to limit the legal liability of gun dealers and manufacturers in the case of City of Gary v. Smith & Wesson et al. The ruling held that the so-called "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" (which became effective exactly one year ago today) violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of Due Process and Separation of Powers. It allows Gary, Indiana's lawsuit against sixteen...

Are there no limits to which activist judges won’t go to advance their political and policy agendas? Answer: No. I wrote an entire book about it. And U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, appointed in the twilight of the Carter administration, is the latest in a long list of disgraceful lawyers who abuse their power. There are four things that strike me most about Taylor’s opinion. First, she grants standing to such plaintiffs as the ACLU, CAIR, Greenpeace, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Christopher Hitchens, and others, without a shred of information showing any connection between the plaintiffs’ assertions...

Judge bemoans lack of driver ed for illegal who killed man By O’Ryan Johnson Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - Updated: 01:03 AM EST A Salem woman whose longtime friend and tenant was killed by an illegal alien driving without a license says she is shocked a judge not only reduced the man’s sentence, but took time to lament the lack of driver’s training for illegals during the sentencing. Alex Costa, 28, of Peabody pleaded guilty to striking and killing Richard Golin, 49, and was sentenced to nine months. But Judge Robert Cornetta turned him over to immigration agents Monday for...

What: International Airport Centers sues former employee, claiming use of a secure file deletion utility violated federal hacking laws. When: Decided March 8 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Outcome: Federal hacking law applies, the court said in a 3-0 opinion written by Judge Richard Posner. What happened, according to the court: Jacob Citrin was once employed by International Airport Centers and given a laptop to use in his company's real estate related business. The work consisted of identifying "potential acquisition targets." At some point, Citrin quit IAC and decided to continue in the same business...

"We are not in this profession to help people get killed," Chatigny said. The judge also threatened to go after Paulding's law license if Ross died and further investigation revealed evidence that Ross was, indeed, incompetent.

If you are looking for a reason to vote for Ralph Nader, the way both parties are handling the “gay marriage” issue should give you lots of data. John Kerry, when asked his opinion of “gay marriage,” looks like a dog getting a bath, as Chris Hitchens puts it. Kerry says he personally opposes “gay marriage”—but he favors civil unions, which are exactly the same thing. The states, he says, should decide the issue, but he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, which was specifically designed to allow each state to reject marriage licenses issued in other...

Mass. Supreme Court rules that illegal for state to deny marriage license to gay couples.