"I have listened as a debate is occurring over the proper powers of the courts and the tendency of some Americans to cede to the advocates of unrestrained judicial power victories to which they are not entitled.
"With respect to the courts, we need a revival of the rule of law based upon the constitutional principles laid down by those who founded this nation. ... Regardless of our votes, the defining judgments in our collective and personal destinies often are made by persons whom the American people have not elected to rule.
"We gave judges their robes and gavels so that they might resolve specific disputes between specific plaintiffs and defendants... They have no authority to redefine words and concepts in our laws to mean what they and their ideological partisans wish for them to mean.
"To Americans of previous generations this was obvious and fundamental. But for many in America today, this is meaningless, a mere technicality: judges are supreme because, well, because they just are."
The early history of the United States and of Ohio included several legislative impeachments and removals of judges for exceeding their mandate. It is a power Congress and the Ohio General Assembly could, and probably should, reassert. Because they do not, we do not hold our Federal judges accountable, since they are appointed for life. One other solution might be to consider a technical amendment to the Constitution that would set standards for judicial review.
A virtual buckeye to BizzyBlog.
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