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2009-07-03

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‘Will of the people’ shouldn’t shape court rulings, American justice system

McCain’s wrong

John McCain is the kind of political candidate you almost have to like — even when you disagree with him.

He’s independent, says what he thinks and isn’t afraid to take a stand.

Well ... most of the time, anyway.

He made a big mistake the other day in pandering to the conservative wing of the Republican party.

The presumptive Republican nominee for president started using conservative bloc code speech that bashes judges and the judicial system.

In particular, he said he wanted to appoint “better judges.” That’s code talk for more conservative judges.

OK. Nothing wrong with that. A truly conservative judge would fight armies of lawyers and politicians to protect the constitution. And that’s a good thing.

What McCain said, however, doesn’t sound as though it came from a war hero who endured hell in captivity in Vietnam to serve his country. He said he wanted to appoint judges who are responsive to “the will of the people.”

Sorry, but that is exactly what our constitutional form of government was designed to guard against.

Constitutional scholars call it the “tyranny of the majority” in a system designed specifically to protect minority opinions and views.

Judges stand between political emotion or social upheaval and all of our constitutional rights. They are given lifetime appointments precisely to protect them from political pressure and shifting demands.

Politicians are elected to serve the will of the people. Judges are appointed to keep those politicians rooted in the fertile soil of our constitutional system.

John McCain is the one candidate with the guts to avoid the pandering. This would be a good time to prove it.

— Gordon Billingsley,

Herald Content Director

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