Why the Fight Over Judges Matters
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Many Americans watched last week's 39-hour senatorial gabfest with a combination of boredom, disgust and pity -- talk about low points in the history of political rhetoric! But, believe it or not, the debate over judges (search) matters.
Here's the problem: Federal judges have become hugely influential busybodies, figuring that because they're wearing robes, they can fix everything. Of course, judges as a group have about as much common sense as, say, college professors, and their efforts at helping have made a fine mess of things.
Stuart Taylor mentions one in the most recent issue of National Journal: Judicial decrees regarding students' rights have made it all but impossible to discipline students -- especially high schoolers. Punks, like convicts, respond to every attempt to curb misbehavior by bellowing: I know my rights! Teachers are afraid to seize control of the situation because they fear the courts will slap them down.
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This is just one example of the judiciary's skill at mucking things up in the name of high-minded theory. Pick any area of American life, and you'll find judges -- not politicians and certainly not you or me -- in charge.
The fight over judges has huge stakes because somebody has to rein these people in before they help us to death. If you don't believe it, ask a local high school teacher.