What questions are fair game and which ones
are out of bounds for Judge Roberts during his
confirmation hearings?

The Virtual Editorials - E15 (Aug. 14, 2005) - Dennis Foster

Introduction:  Our swan song for the Virtual Editorial Board II.

Virtual Editorial #15

     A Supreme Court justice has enormous power.  Yet, if they do their job properly, they will exercise very little power.  It sounds like some kind of Zen thing, but there you go.

     We were singularly blessed by the group of men that fashioned, and championed, our constitution.  Our laws flow from this constitution.  Fundamentally, judges should apply the law; not make the law.  A Supreme Court justice must be vigilant in keeping at bay those that would bend the constitution.

     So, what questions should, or shouldn’t, be asked of Judge Roberts?  There is only one question I am interested in – “Do you promise to rigorously apply the Constitution of the United States to the cases that come before the high court?”  Nothing else matters.

     I want to thank Randy Wilson for the opportunity to participate on this “virtual” editorial board.  It has been work, but not unpleasant.  I have also enjoyed reading the views of my virtual compatriots.  This experience has stimulated me to open up my own soapbox on the web (www.kaibabjournal.com).  So, my “virtual” days are really just beginning.  Thanks for reading (or, tolerating) these weekly missives.  I hope they got you to think outside the box.

Afterword:  The more I thought about it, the more amazed I am at how lucky we were to get the constitution we got.  Sure, the Constitution Congress came up with a lousy way to deal with slavery, but what could they do?  That they came up with such a great system, which was premised on limited government and individual liberty, is nothing short of astounding.  How easy it would have been to codify an oligarchy.  Well, then there was the stuff about women, and you had to have land.  Still, despite all the shortcomings, a remarkable accomplishment.  No way would I trust our current crop of politicians to come up with a constitution.  In Europe, the EU constitution is many hundreds of pages long!  And, apparently, all for naught, given the recent vote in France.

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