[Vision2020] House Leader Wants Congress to Assert Authority Over Judges

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (April 8, 2005) Spokesman review.

It is my impression that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay wants to eliminate
such obstacles as the Constitution and separation of powers.  But, what do
you expect from a politician under indictment?

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DeLay: Courts 'run amok' 

House leader wants Congress to assert authority over judges

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, on Thursday criticized federal
judges again.

James Kuhnhenn
Knight Ridder
April 8, 2005


WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, stepped up his attack
on federal judges Thursday, telling a gathering of religious conservatives
that the judiciary has "run amok" and demanding that Congress assert
authority over the courts.

His remarks, delivered by videotape, broadened the criticism he voiced last
week after the death of Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged woman in
Florida, after judges refused to order her feeding tube reinserted.

DeLay's address came as he strives to shore up his base amid a storm over
his ethics. Liberal groups have launched ads attacking his connections to
lobbyists and former associates now under investigation. Prominent news
reports have raised questions about his use of campaign cash, and last year
the House ethics committee rebuked him three times in one week.

Many lawmakers think DeLay can weather the storm as long as he's perceived
as a leader of the conservative movement.

"The judiciary branch of our government has overstepped its authority on
countless occasions, overturning and in some cases just ignoring the
legitimate will of the people," DeLay said. "But I also believe the
executive and legislative branches have neglected the proper checks and
balances on this behavior . Our next step, whatever it is, must be more than
rhetoric."

Criticism of the courts by religious conservatives has mounted since the
Schiavo case. At issue is extraordinary legislation that Congress passed and
President Bush signed late last month that ordered federal courts to review
the case, in which Schiavo's husband and parents disputed what her wishes
would be. A federal judge in Florida refused to overturn a state court's
decision and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his ruling. The
U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.

After Schiavo died last week, DeLay said federal judges "thumbed their nose
at Congress and the president. The time will come for the men responsible
for this to answer for their behavior."

Congress could inject itself into the judiciary by simply calling on judges
to testify before Congress, a move that could be interpreted as
intimidation. It also could intervene more dramatically, by initiating
impeachment procedures, passing legislation limiting judges' terms in office
or redefining the jurisdiction of federal courts in certain types of cases.

Intervention by the Congress, however, does not sit well with some
conservatives.

John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College and a
former Republican congressional aide, said: "A lot of conservatives may
strongly disapprove of what the courts are doing but don't think it's proper
to punish judges for the decisions. They regard that as a breach of
separation of powers."

Even Congress' attempt to influence the Schiavo case prompted a strong
rebuke by one of the judges deciding the matter. Circuit Judge Stanley F.
Birch Jr., appointed to the court by President Bush's father, said,
"Congress chose to overstep constitutional boundaries into the province of
the judiciary. Such an act cannot be countenanced."

Republican lawmakers too are splintered over whether to take on the judicial
branch of government. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., distanced himself from DeLay, saying he thought the judges in the
Schiavo case had given her case a "fair and independent look."

"I believe we have a fair and independent judiciary today," Frist added.

DeLay had been scheduled as the keynote speaker before the Judeo-Christian
Council for Constitutional Restoration, but sent in taped remarks because
the conference conflicted with his trip to Rome for Pope John Paul II's
funeral.

"Our judiciary has banned prayer in schools and evicted Christmas displays
from town halls," DeLay said.

He complained that judges were ignoring legislatures and "following the
dictates of foreign opinion," a reference to a recent Supreme Court decision
on the death penalty.

"These are not the examples of a mature society, but of a judiciary run
amok," DeLay said.

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Take care, Moscow.

Tom "who still thinks that the U.S. Constitution is a neat thing" Hansen
Hog Haven, Idaho

Solid, Carl.

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they
are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say
about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

-- Robert F. Kennedy