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Judicial activism and politics have made a mess of the courts

by Jim Garvey
| April 16, 2017 4:00 AM

There should come a point in time when America should stand up and say, “Enough is enough” and remove immediately these judges who sit on various courts and have a political agenda. It is also time to place term limits and age limits on those who serve on the bench.

There are lots of examples of judicial activism:

—Chief Justice John Roberts telling America: “This is a tax for Obamacara. Even though you may think it is a penalty, because you are being forced to buy something you don’t want, nonetheless, it is a tax.”

—A judge in Yuba County, California, ordering customs personnel away from the courthouse because they are arresting illegal aliens who leave the courthouse.

— A judge in Hawaii and one in Maryland who have determined that President Trumps “travel ban” is really a ban on Muslims entering this country and if these Muslims have relatives here in the USA, then they are entitled to “constitutional rights.” And all of this stems from the statements that candidate Trump made when on the campaign trail: “I want to place a ban on all Muslims entering this country, until the administration and various departments, know exactly what the hell is going on!” When Mr. Trump made the statement at the time, it came on the heels of various violent killings and individuals shouting their allegiance to “Allah.”

What is written in the Constitution and what is said on a campaign trail are two different matters. What is written in the Constitution is law. The Constitution outlines what the president can and cannot do within the confines of the law. What a candidate says while on the campaign trail is a matter of politics and reaching out to persons or groups of persons to ask for their votes.

We have had people from Ashley Judd to Madonna talk about “Nazis and Nazi tactics” and, in my estimation, what is taking place today in our courtrooms is somewhat similar to the puppet courts set up by Adolf Hitler and the activist judges who promoted his agenda. It should also be noted that the judge in Hawaii who stopped the travel ban was appointed by President Obama and was also a school friend of the president.

Our republic is in a state of turmoil and rightfully so. The average yearly wage across America is between $34K and $56K a year, yet we have allowed a cadre of professional politicians since 1960 to seize control of our government and we are left with the crumbs they throw out our way. Seems like half of our elected officials are millionaires in their own right, and the rest are rich, for all of them have a business interest outside of government. That certainly is not “government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

In my opinion, the selection of federal judges should not be left up to the president, but rather a committee of legal scholars who teach constitutional law and attorneys who practice constitutional law and their appointments to the bench are final. This way, it would eliminate any semblance of politics, since the Senate and the House would be eliminated from the selection.

Congressional service in the eyes of the Founding Fathers was never meant to be a profession and a career. It was meant for learned men at the time to lend their expertise to the problems of the day and once accomplished return to their private lives. This agenda continued in some fashion until 1960, for up until that time, any person elected or appointed to any office in government did not receive a congressional retirement.

Garvey is a resident of Kalispell.