1. With great sadness I note the passing of jurist and intellectual giant, "Robert H. Bork, a former solicitor general, federal judge and conservative legal theorist whose 1987 nomination to the United States Supreme Court was rejected by the Senate in a historic political battle whose impact is still being felt, died on Wednesday in Arlington, Va. He was 85."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/us/robert-h-bork-conservative-jurist-dies-at-85.html?_r=0
a. I highly recommend his book,
"Slouching Toward Gomorrah," to any who wish a deeper understanding of the times and the issues.
2. "
Judge Robert Bork, the intellectual godfather of originalism, explains that the “problem for constitutional law has always been the solution of the Madisonian dilemma, that neither the majority nor the minority can be trusted to define the proper spheres of democratic authority and individual liberty.”
3. Bork states that the role of a judge is to solve this dilemma by setting the proper ground rules on when the majority and when the minority should rule, and that following the intentions of the framers and
treating the Constitution like law will satisfy the dilemma, and constrain judges.
4. Next, Bork deals with the idea that reliance on one’s moral philosophy or natural law would solve the dilemma…but, Bork says, “ Not only is moral philosophy wholly inadequate to the task, but there is no reason for the rest of us, who have our own moral visions, to by governed by the judge’s moral predilections.
5. Again,
there is no reason to believe that judges would be any better at discerning moral philosophy than are citizens or legislators.
6. Judge Bork makes the point that Originalists can easily apply
timeless constitutional commands to new technologies, such as wiretapping and television, and to changed circumstances, as suits for libel and slander. All the judge needs is knowledge of the core value that the Framers intended to protect.
7. . And, while we may not decide every case in the way the Framers would have, “entire
ranges of problems will be placed off limits to judges, thus preserving democracy in those areas where the framers intended democratic government.”
From "Originalism," by Steven G. Calabresi, professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law and a visiting professor at Brown University.
8. It is the great shame of the Left-wing politicians who denied Judge Bork his seat on the Supreme Court, but endorsed those of lesser ability and values.
a. Kagan's name was also on a brief, United States V. Stevens, dug up by the Washington Examiner, stating: "Whether a given category of
speech enjoys First Amendment protection depends upon a categorical balancing of the value of the speech against its societal costs."
If the government doesn't like what you say,
Elena Kagan believes it is the duty of courts to tell you to shut up. If some pantywaist is offended by what you say, Elena Kagan believes your words can be "disappeared".
WyBlog -- Elena Kagan's America: some speech can be "disappeared"
Elena Kagan Radical anti-gun nut? « The Daley Gator
Perhaps there is another place where Judge Bork will find justice.
Rest in Peace.
