Posted on 03/06/2009 9:15:49 AM PST by EternalVigilance
In a move that should give social conservatives great pause, Governor Sarah Palin has appointed a former board member of Planned Parenthood to the Alaska State Supreme Court.
Palin appointed Anchorage Superior Court Judge Morgan Christen to the state’s highest court on Wednesday. Along with Christen’s former board member status with Planned Parenthood.
There is no disputing Palin’s appointment of Christen will cause the Alaska Supreme to lean left and will ensure a more activist court when it comes to gay marriage, and abortion. The Christen appointment is key because she replaces justice Warren Mathews, one of the dissenting votes striking down the parental consent legislation.
The Governor, who early on won the support of Alaska liberals after she pushed through an enormous, unprecedented tax increase on the oil industry, seems to be back in their good graces with this appointment.
ADN liberal bloggers responded to Palin’s Supreme Court appointment writing,
“Ohmigawd!??The governor's been taken over by space aliens.??What an improvement!”
“Wow. Way to go Palin! I can't believe I just said that. But hey, credit where credit is due.”
“Glad to see a woman in the position to balance out the court. Good for Palin for keeping bible thumper beliefs out of the court system and honoring the separation of Church and State.”
“This is the one good action that Sarah Palin has taken over the past three years. And I have no problem admitting it. Great pick!!!! So even if the wing-nut parental consent bill passes, the state Supremes now have enough votes to overturn it as unconstitutional.”
Granted Palin would have had to put up a fight to block the appointment of the far left Christen to the court. Under Alaska law the judicial council made up mostly of liberal lawyers gets to filter out candidates who do not hold a leftist background. The governor must pick from the names forwarded.
But former governor Frank Murkowski during his term fought the process and at first refused to name any of the names submitted to him. The liberal media beat him up pretty bad over it and he eventually caved.
If Governor Palin would have taken on this fight, it probably would have ended up in court. If she had taken up the fight and asked for all the candidates’ names that applied to be forwarded, it would have brought to the public’s attention that trial lawyers control the third branch of government in Alaska. But with the governor refusing to spend any political capital on this issue, it is sure to disappear from Alaska’s political landscape.
The governor caving into trial lawyers also guarantees an activist court will continue to push its agenda on the people of Alaska. It will continue to stand between you and your child, continue to redefine marriage and block development.
Palin appointing Christen kills any move by the legislature to pass parental consent legislation. The new court with Christen on it will surely strike down any new laws. This is one of the reason Palin’s caving is confusing. Just recently held a news conference standing side by side with conservative lawmakers sponsoring new parental consent legislation.
Refusing to fight for parental consent laws is risky for Palin. It clearly will help her avoid controversy from the liberal media. But conservatives supporting her won't like the fact she appointed a former Planned Parenthood board member to Alaska’s highest court.
Many of the governor’s conservative supporters have ignored her high taxes and liberal anti free market policies. They support her simply because she says she is pro-life and is open about her faith. But the Christen appointment proves that while the governor lives the pro-life message in her personal life, she is not willing to spend political capital on the issue in her political life.
I know, I know, nobody but Alan Keyes is conservative enough.
The fact that the article uses the so-called “tax increase” on oil companies against Governor Palin the way it does (dishonestly and misleadingly) tells me it’s not a reliable source; clearly there’s a vendetta here against the Governor.
More than meets the eye on this one.
Besides, I think her (the appointee’s) judicial philosophy is what is most important, not her personal views about abortion.
you got it! LEt’s hear from FORMER Ku Klux Klan member of Congress Democrat Byrd
Speaking of which... has anyoine else seen the photo of him as head kleagle or whatever they call the leadwer of the klan?
He has grey hair~!- exactly how old was he when he ‘repudiated’ his past involvement with them?
Has Palin made the appointment of Christen and is Christen a former board member of planned parenthood?
Thanks of your clarification.
I'm sure you missed that little tidbit. So Sarah, by law, has to pick a lesser of evils.
Nice try at demonizing her.
Read my 26
Christen was the board member of a group that later became Planned Parenthood of Alaska. When Christen was a member, they where not an abortion promoting group, it was almost a decade after Christen left before they where an abortion providing group.
Why is the so called pro-life group who is leveling this half-truth charge against Palin supporting the more liberal, very pro-abortion Smith. With Christen, it is unclear if she is pro-abortion, the connections are loose at best.. with Smith, it is very clear he is pro-abortion. Ask yourself why this pro-life group (if they are who they claim) is doing this and you will discover the root of the issue.
Just a side note, the Alaska National Right to Life has not condemned Palin for this, only this small, almost unknown ‘Alaskans for Life’ group.
On Conservatives4palin.com they posted both Smith and Christian’s resume, NO WHERE on it does it mention Christian being a member EVER of Planned Parenthood..looks to be another lie by Fagan and the other creeps out to destroy Sarah. So sad, I don’t get what is going on in Alaska, so many scumbags over there(Not talking about the citizens who live there, but the officials over there) just evil people. Already demeanizing Christian without reading a damn thing about her.
Here is Morgan Christian’s application
http://www.ajc.state.ak.us/Selection/Applications/2009/christenapp.pdf
And here is Eric Smith’s
http://www.ajc.state.ak.us/Selection/Applications/AllBefore98/smith96.pdf
He is a member of many environmentalists groups including:
Board of Trustees, Alaska Conservation Foundation
Member, Trustees for Alaska, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Alaska Center for the Environment, Natural Resources Defense Council, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, Alaska Public Interest Research Group
Meanwhile, Morgan Christian states in hers..
In her application, Christen described her judicial philosophy as “faithfulness to the Alaska Constitution, adherence to the doctrine of separation of powers and the insistence that all litigants be treated with courtesy and respect.”
No where does it mention Planned Parenthood, of course she might have left it out but I highly doubt it
Yeah and what I have heard about this Alaskan’s For Life group doesn’t sound so pretty. Heck I doubt they are even pro-life
“‘The Lesser of Two Evils’ from the stack of leftist appointees that landed on her desk...”
It wasn’t a stack, Sarah only had two to pick from.
Looks like she picked the less pukey one.
You freaking jerk. SHE HAD TWO CHOICES AND I AM GLAD SHE CHOSE THE WOMAN.
THE MAN IS A DEFINITE ENVIRONMENTAL WACKO. I BELIEVE YOU SHOULD BE ON A REALLY REALLY WACKO BOARD FOR PEOPLE TOTALLY OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM. YOU MAKE ME PUKE.
YOU FREAK!!!! YOU HAVE NO FREAKING COMMON SENSE, MAY BE NO SENSE. I AM SURPRISED YOU ARE ABLE TO TYPE. OR DO YOU HAVE SOMEONE DO IT FOR YOU?
“‘The Lesser of Two Evils’ from the stack of leftist appointees that landed on her desk...”
It wasn’t a stack, Sarah only had two to pick from.
Looks like she picked the less pukey one.
And that’s politics...picking the less pukey one. No one candidate is perfect....wishing it were true does not make it so.
It will be interesting to see where your credibility goes from here.
I assume you looked into this before you posted, I haven’t. Are these other posters correct in that she had to choose between these two people?
If so then I will take a look at both of them and try to evaluate her choice.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.