Thomas Jipping and John Malcolm write for the Daily Signal about the Trump administration’s impact on federal courts.
Our system of government and the liberty it provides are compromised when judges decide cases based on their own personal views and political beliefs rather than the law.
If the American people and their elected representatives make the law, then elections are critical, but if judges effectively amend or undermine the law under the guise of interpreting it, then their appointment is critical.
That is the switch that has occurred. …
… If judges make decisions based on their own views, reflections, or impressions, then, in the eyes of the public and many of their elected representatives, it becomes essential to appoint judges who have the views, reflections, and impressions needed to advance their desired political agenda.
In a 2002 speech, Justice Antonin Scalia warned that the more we reject originalism as the proper approach to judging and come to accept “living constitutionalism” as an acceptable or desirable method of interpretation, the more choosing those judges will be “a very political hot potato.” …
… The ongoing conflict over judicial appointments, therefore, is really an ongoing conflict over judicial power. It is a conflict over whether to embrace or reject the limited-but-important role designed for the judiciary by America’s Founders. …
… The current president, on the other hand, seems to have embraced the Framers’ original design for the judiciary. In their hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, for example, President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees have consistently pledged to put aside their personal views, to interpret the Constitution and statutes as written, and to apply the law impartially. …
… Despite these and other opposition tactics, as of Sept. 9, Trump has appointed 24% of the entire federal judiciary. More important, he has already appointed 53 judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which has the last word on nearly all cases in the federal court system.
