Posted on 04/20/2005 1:36:40 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay ratcheted up his criticism of judges and singled out U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy on Tuesday, faulting him for using the Internet to conduct research and for writing court decisions "based on international law."
DeLay, R-Sugar Land, who was critical of federal judges who refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube before her death, also noted his disappointment that Republican-appointed judges are "judicial activists."
DeLay and other conservatives were angered last month when the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, found the Constitution forbids executing convicts who committed crimes before turning 18. The court majority opinion noted that the views of international courts had been taken into account.
Won't step down as leader
"We've got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon international law, not the Constitution of the United States? That's just outrageous. And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous," DeLay said during an interview on Fox News Radio's The Tony Snow Show.
The interview was part of DeLay's public relations campaign with Republican-friendly news organizations to rebut criticism about his ethical behavior that has escalated in recent weeks.
Asked how the controversy has affected him personally, DeLay answered with a laugh: "Well, it certainly has gotten me closer to God."
DeLay said he would not step down from his leadership post unless he is indicted by a grand jury investigating one of his political action committees. House GOP rules require leaders to step aside following indictment.
DeLay has been the most critical congressional leader regarding judicial behavior.
Following Schiavo's death earlier this month — the Florida woman was in a vegetative state when judges declined to stop removal of her feeding tube — DeLay warned: "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior."
That and other comments by DeLay caused some Republicans who agree with his criticism of judicial activism, such as Vice President Dick Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to distance themselves from his remarks.
Last week, DeLay apologized for his "inartful" rhetoric but did not back away from his vow to have Congress review recent court decisions.
Defining 'good behavior'
On the radio program, DeLay offered more detail on what he is seeking.
He wants the House Judiciary Committee to probe the constitutional provision that says 'judges can serve as long as they serve with good behavior,' " he said. "We want to define what 'good behavior' means. And that's where you have to start."
DeLay said he opposes judges "that don't follow the Constitution and write their own laws. And of course, the leftists hate it when we attack the left's last legislative body."
Democrats have said Republicans such as DeLay are going after the judiciary, even threatening impeachment, because they disagree with their decisions.
During a routine House Appropriations Committee hearing last week to consider the Supreme Court's budget, Kennedy answered Republicans' criticism against judges by calling it "very healthy." He added that democratic dialogue makes democracy work.
ping re: my post #38
We need 100 more just like him!
Democratic dialogue makes democracy work, unless the dialogue is contrary to Teddy's views, then you must be censored.
If you're referring to "The Swimmer", I don't think he said that.
If the left wasn't attacking him, they'd be attacking Bush.
Can Democracy Survive Bush's Embrace?
Naomi Klein
March 9, 2005
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050328&s=klein
(snip)
The Bush Administration wholeheartedly agrees, as evidenced by the orgy of redescription that now passes for American foreign policy. Faced with an Arab world enraged by its occupation of Iraq and its blind support for Israel, the US solution is not to change these brutal policies; it is, in the pseudo-academic language of corporate branding, to "change the story."
Of course the can. :-)
"I'd like a Supreme Court Justice to be educated enough on the law to pull down the right book and look it up - or have clerks who could point him in the right direction."
"The Internet isn't the end all and be all of information."
I would hazard a guess that very, very few legal practicioners do book research anymore. For those of you who don't have legal training, you might be interested in knowing that www.westlaw.com and www.lexis.com have everything that the books ever had and more. It's easier to use, and in many cases much less expensive than purchasing volumes and volumes of caselaw books that have to be updated constantly.
Hearing DeLay criticize Kennedy for doing his legal research on the internet has made me lose major respect for him. It's just such a dumb thing to say.
"www.westlaw.com & www.lexis.com: Modern Towers of Babel perhaps?"
Huh? Your comment makes no sense. Westlaw and Lexis are databases of caselaw, statutes, law reviews, treatises, etc. EVERYONE who practices law in the United States uses them. It's just like the books, only in an online database. It's accurate and efficient.
Too bad he's such an idiot. I say that because every judge and attorney I know now uses the Internet to conduct legal research if for no other reason than the two major legal publishers -- West and Lexus -- offer their services on-line.
Would you respond to the 'Seriously' part of my post instead of the not-so-serious portion?
Agreed!!!!
"Would you respond to the 'Seriously' part of my post instead of the not-so-serious portion?"
Well, I kind of did, but here goes again. You said:
"Seriously, I would hope that our Supreme Court has a computer network that is much more authoritative and secure than the internet is."
I said: "Westlaw and Lexis are databases of caselaw, statutes, law reviews, treatises, etc. EVERYONE who practices law in the United States uses them. It's just like the books, only in an online database. It's accurate and efficient."
But to elaborate....both Westlaw and Lexis are secure pay services provided to legal practitioners (and anyone else who feels the need to purchase their services).
Historically, Westlaw has been the main publisher of legal texts in the United States. When internet services began growing, they moved all of their legal publications online into a database, although they still publish books for the few Luddites left out there.
What Westlaw and Lexis provide (for a fee), is access to caselaw (i.e. legal rulings on cases), statutes (i.e. laws, court rules, and administrative codes), treatises (i.e. authoritative works by prominant legal scholars on various aspects of law), and a HUGE variety of other information.
Consequently, when Justice Kennedy says he does his legal research on the internet, he means that he sits down at his computer and accesses either Westlaw or Lexis. It is absolutely the most common thing in the world with respect to legal practice. Not knowing that makes DeLay look stupid, because if he's going to accurately criticize the judiciary, he should have some working knowledge of how they function.
"Jefferson spent some 6 months or more consulting British, Greek and Roman history whilst preparing to write the Declaration of Independence."
I didn't know that Jefferson looked to international law to influence the founding principles of the US! How dare he!!! Is there a way to retro-actively remove him from any importance in the founding of our nation, maybe we should write our representitives asking he be labeled a traitor, just like justice Kennedy!!!
Your source for that is... assumption? or what?
Also, my Tower of Babel comment might make a little more sense to you if you use it within the context of the original meaning. Our laws are so convoluted, contradictory, and confusing that they almost resemble the confusion of languages that occurred at the original Tower of Babel. Not to mention the 'godlike' attitudes of lawyers and judges that use the law.
Bump for DeLay
"Your source for that is... assumption? or what?"
My source for that is knowledge of what practitioners mean when they say "legal research." No one who practices law at Justice Kennedy's level would mean anything else by using that term.
"Excuse me, I mis-spoke when I said "use that law". I should have said use case law. I don't think case law should be considered law."
Well, historically speaking, case law (common law) has always been the biggest part of our law in the United States. I think you're kind of out of luck on that one.
When the perception and practice of judges being allowed to 'make the law' instead of the elected representatives of the people (you know, lawmakers), I think we're all 'out of luck'.
...Making note to contact Delay's office with message of support. Today...
I have already done that and I'm sure that it is making a difference because he is staying on message about reining in the judiciary.
I kind of wish that he would go along with Newts idea (which is well grounded in actual history) to just retire judges rather then impeach them though. Seems like that would be a lot more to the point and would not waste time and resources and also would avoid a lot of sensationalistic journalism which would accompany impeachments.
Just seems like a much cleaner way to go about it to me. If I have an employee that is hell bent against doing what I ask him to do, I wouldn't stand him up in front of the crew and ridicule him, I'd just hand him his pink slip. The rest of the crew will get the message.
Nonetheless, Delay has my full support.
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