Gansler Proposes Postponing Judicial Elections

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler wants to take away your right to elect judges.  At least that’s what the headline in today’s Annapolis Capital reads.  In reality, Gansler is proposing that judges have to be confirmed by voters within 10 years of their appointment rather than the current two years.

In theory, Gansler’s proposal has merit.  In theory …  In reality Gansler wants to make what is already political patronage even more deeply entrenched.

Judgeships are political appointments, nothing more.  That’s not to say the most judges aren’t well qualified; I’m sure they are.  However, forcing a judge to stand before the voters on occasion isn’t such a bad idea.  Although judges are rarely turned out of office, forcing them to stand before voters helps to keep judges grounded.  If you doubt this, you need only look at the federal judiciary.

Our founders designed the federal judiciary with lifetime appointment to prevent undue political influence on the judiciary.  Sadly, we have reached the point where political appointees to the federal bench and literally make law from the bench.  One need only look to the 9th US Circuit to see a living, breathing argument for a limited term of office for federal judges.

As I noted earlier, Gansler’s proposed has theoretical merit.  However, his left wing ideology shines through:

Gansler, however, argued that voters don’t have enough information after a year or two to make an educated decision. He also said voters regularly unseat minority judges, undoing the efforts of recent governors to diversify the bench.

"It becomes a contest run on popularity, often with racial undertones," Gansler said of the contested elections. "There is an obvious dearth of minorities on the bench."

In Gansler’s world, only the liberal elite posses the wisdom to appoint judges.  If a judge refuses to enforce the law or adequately sentence dangerous criminals, voters should have little to no recourse.

If anything, the current system doesn’t force judges to appear on a ballot often enough.  Rather than be elected to a 15 year term, perhaps judges should have to stand for re-election every 8 years.

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When Does Consistency Equal Flip-Flopping?

When you’re a liberal.

Eric Luedtke somehow thinks that he’s clever:

Ha. McCain, during his little sit-down with Rick Warren, said he wouldn’t have nominated Ginsburg, Breyer, or Souter to the Supreme Court. Except he voted to confirm them as a Senator. Flip-Flop John strikes again.

No Eric. This is one instance where McCain is being quite consistent. McCain believes, as do most conservatives, that appointments to the federal bench should be supported unless there is evidence of something that disqualifies them for the bench.

The question given to McCain on Saturday night was, “Which justices would you NOT have nominated?”. There is a big difference between who you would nominate and voting for confirmation.

Read more

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O’Malley Dumps Mike Miller’s Kid

In the schizophrenic world of politics – Martin O’Malley style – I guess that there was some purpose in not nominating Maryland Senate President Mike Miller’s son for a judgeship. I just don’t see it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m as opposed to blatant nepotism as the next guy. I just can’t figure it out. O’Malley has already caught bloody hell over his escapades to date. Three members of the judicial nominating commission resigned. Both Miller and his son were held to public ridicule over this fiasco.

After all of this, don’t tell me that Martin O’Malley suddenly decided to do the “right thing”. Going through with the nomination didn’t have much downside, unless Miller Junior got on the bench and let some serial killer out on bail to commit five or six more murders before trial.

Mike Miller doesn’t strike me as a “forgive and forget” kind of guy. I guess we should all thank O’Malley – whatever his bizarre motivation was.

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When Silence Isn’t Golden

Frank Knotts at DelawarePolitics.net covers a recent Federal court ruling that bars a moment of silence in Illinois schools. The arrogance of liberal judges never ceases to amaze me.

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How Far Will O’Malley Go to Get His Way?

For those of us in Salisbury, we thought Mayor Barrie Tilghman was bad. It seems that Maryland Gov. Marting O’Malley will go to almost any length to get his way (in this case appointing the son of Maryland Senate President Mike Miller to a judgeship).

This is a long post, but it needs to be in order to understand the convoluted lengths which O’Malley will go to in order to have is way.

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Huckabee Caught on Tape – “Constitution is a Living Document”

According former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s campaign website:

I firmly believe that the Constitution must be interpreted according to its original meaning, and flatly reject the notion of a “living Constitution.” The meaning of the Constitution cannot be changed by judicial fiat.

But it seems that Huckabee is a bit of a flip-flopper on one of the most sacred of conservative (and GOP) issues. During an interview with CNN, Huckabee states that “the constitution is a living, breathing document.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Pv97p41Wo]

Huckabee tries to couch his statement in terms of amending the constitution. Unfortunately, that is not the same thing. Does the Constitution (as amended) mean what it says, or not?

Thanks to Virginia Virtucon for pointing us to this video.

Technorati Tags: 2008, MikeHuckabee, conservatism, originalism, courts, video

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