Justices Thomas And Jackson Help Us Understand Judicial Activismby Ted NoelThe ink is barely dry on the Supreme Court’s decisions on religious freedom and affirmative action. That hasn’t hampered instapundits from offering their own decisions. “An extremist minority” has “displayed a willful ignorance of our reality.” I haven’t found polemics denouncing “activist courts,” but that’s probably because I can’t stomach searching for such unhinged screeds. But is every decision of the Court from activists? Are they legislating from the bench, to recall another favorite line from the party of the recently gored ox? Of course, it’s a bit rich to call the Supremes “extremists,” when even Justice Jackson joined a unanimous Court in upholding the free practice of religion.
This brings us back to what an “activist” court looks like. I must first admit that, as a conservative, I thought that decisions to avoid decisions in favor of the freedom to practice religion (Masterpiece Cake Shop) smelled funny. The pendulum swung when the Dobbs decision gored the Left’s ox. But were either of those cases actually legislating from the bench, to use the worn-out pejorative? As I’ve become an active consumer of SCOTUS legalese, I believe that there is a useful distinction between someone who legislates from the bench and one who does not. The opinions of Justices Thomas and Jackson provide us with the decoder ring.
Con't at link:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/07/do_the_current_conservative_decisions_show_an_activist_supreme_court.html**************************************
