Commentary: Tyranny of Judges
Americans are losing the power to govern themselves. Increasingly, we are ruled by unelected, unaccountable judges who impose their own political opinions on the law, disregarding the will of the people or the legal enactments of their elected representatives.
Two recent cases illustrate the growing crisis of judicial tyranny. In Florida last week, the state Supreme Court struck down a 1999 law that required parents be given a 48-hour notice before a minor daughter obtained an abortion. The majority in the 5-1 ruling said parental notification violated the "privacy rights" of minors under the Florida constitution.
The majority also cited a 2000 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that struck down a parental notification law in that state. Meanwhile, in Nevada, the people have lost their voting rights and power to amend the state constitution.
In the 1990s, voters in Nevada approved an amendment requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for any tax increase. Last week the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that "basic rights" - including education spending - take precedence over the expressed will of the people. At the request of Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican who wants to raise taxes by $1 billion, the court ordered the legislature to pass a tax hike by a simple majority rather than a two-thirds vote.
These and recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings raise the question of why we bother electing representatives or convening legislatures or Congress. The people of Florida want to be informed before their children have abortions. The people of Nevada want to restrain their legislature's power to levy taxes. None of this is unreasonable or unduly burdensome. "Tough luck," said the judges. "We'll decide what's best for Florida's families and Nevada's taxpayers."
But as Abraham Lincoln observed, "if the policy of the government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court...the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal."
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