Imperial Judges

Federal and State judges have become the leading protagonists in the current culture war that is going on in the United States. It seems like almost every month some activist federal judge declares a law passed by Congress or one of the States to be unconstitutional and therefore null and void. The fact is obvious to anyone who follows national news on a regular basis.

Leftist, atheistic and materialistic lobbies, like the ACLU, have been engaged in a culture war against the Judeo‑Christian tradition of America for over fifty years. One of their main goals is to eliminate God and religion from all aspects of public life, such as “under God,” in the Pledge of Allegiance, displaying the Ten Commandments on public property, offering prayers in schools and at graduation ceremonies, and so forth. We must admit that they have been very successful in obtaining their goals. The catch is—they cannot get these changes through legislation, so they go to activist, imperial judges and get them to declare what they don’t like, such as laws against sodomy, as unconstitutional. The American people have been deceived into accepting the false principle that the Constitution is whatever the Courts say it is, especially the Supreme Court.

In her short but important and incisive book Phyllis Schlafly, President of Eagle Forum and herself a lawyer, goes to the heart of the matter. In the first nine short chapters she points out how out-of-control judges rewrite the Constitution, censor recognition of God, redefine marriage, undermine U.S. sovereignty, promote pornography, foster feminism, handicap law enforcement, interfere in elections and impose taxes. In short, they are making new laws from the bench—laws that reflect a secularistic bias and are hostile to American traditions of God, family and country. All or at least most of these matters should, in our democratic system, be decided by the people and their elected representatives, not by unelected life‑tenured judges on federal and state courts.

Chapters ten and eleven deal with the beginning and growth of judicial supremacy. Strange as it may seem, a main source for this is the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857. In the last chapter Mrs. Schlafly spells out ten steps that should be taken to end judicial supremacy and return power to the people and their elected representatives.

As the author points out, it would not be hard to reign in the imperial judiciary since Congress has the power, from the Constitution, to limit and restrict a power of federal courts. For example, Congress could simply pass a law stating that federal and state courts cannot accept cases dealing with “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, or placing the Ten Commandments on public property. They could do this for marriage, taxes and elections.

The tragic aspect of all this is that our elected representatives, for over fifty years, have allowed the activist judges to increase their power to such an extent that the judges are now the most powerful organ of our country. We are now ruled by judges rather than by our elected representatives. Mrs. Schlafly says that it is time for the people to demand from their elected representatives that they clip the wings of the imperial judges.

The book is short, clear and easy to read. It is recommended to all who are concerned about the future of freedom in America, especially about the freedom of religion.

Kenneth Baker, S.J.
Ramsey, New Jersey