The crypto- (and not so crypto-) fascist right in America knows that the destruction of an independent judiciary is key to its ability to impose its reactionary agenda on the nation. Already, we've had a conservative Chief Justice, William Rehnquist, speak out against these attacks, and now the President of the American Bar Association has done the same in the first-ever e-mail I can recall receiving from him (and sent to all members). He writes:
As members of the legal profession, I know you share my concern over the public's misunderstanding of the judiciary's role and the politically motivated criticism of the judiciary stemming from the Terri Schiavo case, and are equally alarmed about the murders of Judge Lefkow's family members in Chicago and the attacks at the Fulton County Courthouse in Georgia. The circumstances of these tragic events require careful analysis, thoughtful leadership, and measured response. The American Bar Association has long held the preservation of judicial independence as one of the most important Association goals. These recent events have elevated the urgency of that commitment among the ABA's leadership. In the past several days, I have issued public statements condemning the violence against our judiciary and the gratuitous and vicious public attacks on the dedicated men and women who are our country's judges. During my speaking engagements, I have taken the opportunity to call for a change in tenor when the national discussion turns to our justice system.
Unfortunately, as is being widely reported, the judiciary is getting no help from Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who is quoted as saying on the Senate floor recently:
I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in - engage in violence.
The episodes alluded to involve an accused rapist who overpowered a courthouse guard, and murdered a judge and several others before escaping (temporarily); and an angry losing party who murderd the husband and parent of a federal judge in Chicago.
I can't really say what game John Cornyn thinks he's playing by speculating out loud on the floor of the U.S. Senate that maybe judges wouldn't get killed so often by demented rapists if they were more willing to bow to conservative theories of constitutional exegesis....
Does Senator Cornyn want more people to go about murdering judges? One doubts it. But it seems that he's happy to try and use such incidents to advance his own agenda. Happy to use them, one notes, even though the recent high-profile cases don't seem to actually have a political agenda. His hope -- along, it seems, though less clearly -- with Tom DeLay's is that judges will begin to operate under a cloud of intimidation. They may not like the idea of buckling under to whatever it is Cornyn wants them to do, but Cornyn is making it clear that he's the judges' friends. He doesn't want to see them killed, or maimed, or assaulted. He's trying to save them. Trying to warn them. Warning them that unless they change their ways someone -- someone who has nothing to do with John Cornyn or the Texas cabal running the country, mind you -- just might decide to do something crazy. But here's Cornyn offering a safe harbor. Confirm all of Bush's nominees, no matter how incompetent, corrupt, or inept they are, no matter how unsound their view of the constitution. And for the others, try to conform your views to those of Bush's new appointees. Do it and you'll be safe. If you don't do it, well, then, certainly John Cornyn wouldn't advocate killing you, he's just pointing out that it will happen....
I've already seen some folks on the right try to explain this away. He was just offering an analytic point, noting the existence of anger about some judicial decisions, some anti-judge violence, and offering some speculations. Sure he was. Nevermind that he and his ilk are the ones whipping up the anger. It wouldn't cross his mind to tone down and suggest that his colleagues do likewise. Suggest that in the wake of some murders and some controversial court cases that we all agree that we are a country under law and that despite disagreements we should respect judicial offices and their holders. No. Far better to note that there may be a connection between non-Cornyn-approved court rulings and the murder of judges. He's just trying to be helpful.
If Senator Cornyn has been quoted correctly, then he ought to resign, not only from the Senate, but from public life. Such remarks betray contempt for the values of the rule of law, central to a free and democratic society.
UPDATE: The New York Times comments on Senator Cornyn's "outburst." Coming on the heels of Tom DeLay's latest attacks on the judiciary, it does make it surprising that any lawyer or judge could remain a member of the Republican Party.
Recent Comments