Four Republican candidates for the Alabama Supreme Court say that state courts are not bound by Supreme Court precedents. Talk about activist judges!
“State supreme court judges should not follow obviously wrong decisions simply because they are `precedents,'” [Chief Justice candidate and current justice Tom] Parker wrote in a newspaper opinion piece in January that was prompted by a murder case that came before the Alabama high court.
Seems that these guys are living in a time warp. In the 1950s and 1960s, southern judges tried the same tact with issues such as school desegregation, asserting “states rights.” This time, they are simply saying that they have no responsibility to follow decisions that are wrong.
Wrong by whose standards? Hey, I think seat belt laws are wrong. Does that mean I don’t have to pay the fine if I get stopped while not wearing one?
Every day, we read that activist judges are making decisions that they shouldn’t make. Part of the argument for the Virginia marriage amendment and the national marriage amendment is that activist judges will try to make gay marriage legal. Well, if these guys are to be believed, then why not just ignore the constitutional amendments, too? No need for rules. We’ll just make them up as we go along.
Ludicrous. And if the people in Alabama elect these guys, then they have been drinking some wild kool-aid.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 