Notes & Asides

branches in restraining judicial excess – even the Republican demand that Bush’s judicial nominees receive an up-or-down vote – as intemperate, dangerous, or incipiently theocratic.

So it is time to assert some distinctions. Senator Cornyn’s speculation strikes us, first, as simply untrue: We do not believe that the assorted maniacs and criminals who have assaulted judges (and their families) are motivated in any part by a concern that judges have claimed powers that properly belong to legislatures. If it were true, it would be irrelevant to the questions of what powers judges should exercise and what other governmental actors should do when they exceed those powers: The resolution of these questions should not be swayed by violent intimidation. We’re sure Senator Cornyn sincerely regrets his passing remark.

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branches in restraining judicial excess – even the Republican demand that Bush’s judicial nominees receive an up-or-down vote – as intemperate, dangerous, or incipiently theocratic.

So it is time to assert some distinctions. Senator Cornyn’s speculation strikes us, first, as simply untrue: We do not believe that the assorted maniacs and criminals who have assaulted judges (and their families) are motivated in any part by a concern that judges have claimed powers that properly belong to legislatures. If it were true, it would be irrelevant to the questions of what powers judges should exercise and what other governmental actors should do when they exceed those powers: The resolution of these questions should not be swayed by violent intimidation. We’re sure Senator Cornyn sincerely regrets his passing remark.