Congress Does the Right Thing

Last night, the House passed a compromise bill that gave the Schindler family standing in federal court. The day before, the Senate passed the same bill by unanimous consent. Now the case has gone to federal court and met with that court's equivalent of Judge Greer. The new judge has openly spoken out about the case and said that he doubts that the result will change. Further, he has refused to order the tube reinserted while he is considering the case.

Like the state court, this brings attention to just how out of control our court system is. Judges are throwing out their responsibility to be objective, throwing out the law, and ignoring what little accountability there is. This is not about results. This is not about politics. This is about judges who are not accountable to the voters, to those who nominated them, and, most importantly, to the law. Now is the time for action. Now is the time for legislatures to begin considering corrective actions, such as impeachment, that will reign in an out of control judiciary and remind them that they must apply the law, not rewrite it.

The Democrats said during the floor debate that the Congressional oversight suggests that we are becoming a nation of men, not of laws. The difficulty is this. All actors in civil processes are men. Too many judges are inserting their personal views, or worse, "international opinion", in their judgements. They are immune neither to the pressures of the day nor to their own opinions, nor can they be. The problem, however, is that they no longer care. Judges once, and, to be fair, some judges still do, did their best to remain objective. They were not always successful, but it was a goal to which they strived. Now, however, judges strive to do as they please and write the law to fit their ends. Now it is time to refocus on the principle, but it now appears that judges will not do so themselves. It is time for Congress to begin impeachment proceedings for judges who show contempt for the very laws that they are supposed to be applying.