# Sen. Cornyn: Judicial activism incited judical murders **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758 "2005-04-05T01:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/21 "2005-04-05T09:59:42Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Sadly, I’ve been noting the practice of litmus testing judicial candidates with disdain for some time. As mentioned in the quote within the OP, Hamilton had the sound idea that the judicial branch would simply interpret and apply the law. When persons are subject to disclosing their personal bias and appointed based thereon, the blindfold has slipped, IMHO, and both sides of the aisle, red and blue staters are the less therefore. Mayhap, but only one side’s brought guns to this particular fight; as **Mr. Moto** notes, [the other side has brought only pies and salad dressing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=309882). I’m going to briefly turn the floor over to another commentator, a kid half my age named [Matt Yglesias](http://yglesias.typepad.com/matthew/2005/04/how_to_do_thing.html): > [@](#): > > 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. He also draws a rather interesting analogy to the combination of abortion clinic protests and shootings of abortion doctors that’s worth reading the rest of the piece for. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/22 "2005-04-05T12:54:17Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Could you give me a cite on that case? Sure: [Law.com](http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1024078861406) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/23 "2005-04-05T13:35:58Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > Funny how some people seem to think judges just appear on the bench by magic, with no input at all from the voters, and can never be impeached. Well, the “input” from the voters is at one remove for federal judges. The President nominates and the Senate confirms them. The public has no direct input to this process. Of course, people may make their wishes known, but it’s hardly the same as an election, where the people may directly vote on the selection of a person for an office. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/24 "2005-04-05T14:34:13Z")
Quite frankly, if the legislators are fed up with activist judges, they could more often write their laws more narrowly and with a bit more specificity, rather than leaving wide areas open to interpretation of intent by the judicial branch. And I wonder, is congress equally upset with the “activist” executive? Just as the manner in which the legislature (at all levels) writes law leaves aspects of it open to interpretation by judges, many laws are enforced solely by the executive bureaucracy - and they’re equally “activist.” Cornyn seems to be crying about his own, and that of his colleagues, failure. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/25 "2005-04-05T14:41:22Z")
> [@minty green](#): > > I also know people who knew Cornyn during his service on the Texas Supreme Court (a generally good court, quite unlike the completely separate CCA), who testify to Justice Cornyn’s moderation and thoughtfulness. > > Having said all that, his statements since being elected to the Senate are appalling. This one is atrocious. Apologize quickly, Senator. I don’t know. I tend to think Cornyn harbors fantasies of walking into the CCA with a nine millimeter and popping caps in those asses. So in that sense his statement is a bit more understandable. I think he may be projecting what would motivate him onto the actual court shooters. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/26 "2005-04-05T15:50:48Z")
I certainly wouldn’t call Delay, Conyers, and the rest of those trying to pull down the judicial branch in order to achieve their goal of a Chinese-style, one-party state “traitors.” Treason has a very specific definition in the Constitution, and none of this comes close to it, just as speaking out and protesting in opposition to the Iraq war doesn’t come close to it. Since they have come out in opposition to the Constitution and are calling for the destruction of checks and balances in favor of dictatorial rule, I will call them anti-American and ask why they hate the American Consitution so much. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/27 "2005-04-05T16:50:58Z")
It is because they take a sworn oath, on The Holy Book Of All Righteous Tasty Goodness (Bible) to defend and uphold the Constitution. So if “traitor” doesn’t set well, let’s call them Oathbreakers instead. There was a time when that in and of itself was a serious situation. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/28 "2005-04-05T17:22:24Z")
Yeah, “traitors” is not _le mot juste_. “Terrorists” is closer. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/29 "2005-04-05T17:44:29Z")
huh. less’ see. Most recent judicial murders involved the judge who’s family was murdered by a guy who’d lost in her courtroom on a matter of law, where she had orginally sided w/him but a higher court overruled her. the other was a criminal matter that was just going to trial. now, where again was the ‘judcial activism’ involved in those cases? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/30 "2005-04-05T18:14:18Z")
You do have to include all threats, however vague, against the judges who “ordered the execution of Terri Schiavo”. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/31 "2005-04-05T18:21:13Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Yeah, “traitors” is not _le mot juste_. “Terrorists” is closer. Both, I think. Saying, in the wake of these shootings, that government officials may have it coming to them just for doing their job as best they see it, is condoning terrorism. Openly endorsing armed violence against one’s government would make one a traitor. Implicitly doing so…well, I can’t see why one should draw the line between ‘implicitly’ and ‘openly’. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/32 "2005-04-05T18:38:30Z")
quote referred to ‘courtroom violence’. I would think it would be more accurate to examine those cases where violence had acctually occurred, vs. where threats may have been made. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/33 "2005-04-05T18:45:15Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#): > > I can’t decide if our dear Doper **bizzwire** has mis-counted or if I’m being _whooshed_. Now I’m not sure if _I’m_ being whooshed. There are nine justices on the Court and **bizzwire** has them all listed. One nitpick though is that while Rehnquist was appointed Chief Justice by Reagan, he was appointed to the Court itself by Richard Nixon. Which changes the point not at all, but accuracy in all things… ---
**Author:** ![dublos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/34 "2005-04-05T18:47:09Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#): > > I can’t decide if our dear Doper **bizzwire** has mis-counted or if I’m being _whooshed_. The count’s about right, though Rehnquist was nominated to the surpeme court by Nixon, Regan just nominated him as Cheif Justice. [The Supreme’s Bios.](http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/biographiescurrent.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/35 "2005-04-05T19:26:32Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > If they’re so pissed off, they should just start impeachment proceedings. Then the public gets to see what asshats these clowns really are. Sen. Cornyn, if you think these, “activist judges,” (gods, I’m getting sick of that term) are not fulfilling their duties, impeach them. > > What? Oh, they haven’t actually done anything impeachable? Then **SHUT THE FUCK UP!** Or, at least have the decency to say what’s really on your mind. “Waaahhhh! The judges aren’t letting us do whatever the hell we want! They’re making us abide by the Constitution! Waaahhh!” > > Dipshits. Just wanted to say, showed this to my (few) co-workers, and an impromptu round of applause started. Well spoken. I give it a 9.8 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/36 "2005-04-05T20:09:56Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > Judicial Activism is starting to become a meaningless phrase. It’s being twisted to mean “any judicial decision I disagree with” Whaddaya mean, _“starting to”?_ It was a meaningless phrase the moment it was first uttered (probably by a right-wing talk-radio insta-pundit, I’d wager). As for the OP, assuming that Sentaor Cornyn is referring to the Terri Schiavo case in his threat, someone should point him to this breakdown of the judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, as[Salon](http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2005/03/25/republicans_and_schiavo/index_np.html) did: > [@](#): > > “Of the appeals court’s 12 active judges, only two dissented … The remainder … included six Republicans: Reagan appointee and Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson; George H.W. Bush appointees Carnes, Stanley Birch, Joel Dubina, Susan Black; and, most ironically, William Pryor Jr., who was given a recess appointment by George W. Bush two years ago in the midst of controversy and filibuster by Democratic senators.” Insert your own rant against those evil activist conservative justices here, Senator. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/37 "2005-04-05T22:19:06Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > Just wanted to say, showed this to my (few) co-workers, and an impromptu round of applause started. Well spoken. I give it a 9.8 🙂 Wow, thanks. I’m usually just a lurker in the Pit, but this particular story hit me at just the right time of day, in just the right mood, to prompt a bit of writing. I’m trying to harness this rage and send some letters to our Senators and Reps to see if they can’t rein in a few of the more egregious examples of asshattery. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/38 "2005-04-05T23:01:05Z")
> [@GrizzRich](#): > > I can’t decide if our dear Doper **bizzwire** has mis-counted or if I’m being _whooshed_. What was that Albert Brooks movie where William Hurt (?) is a blithering idiot who becomes a high-caliber anchorman because of his ability to cry on demand? There was a scene where Brooks is calling him on being a vacuous phoney: Albert Brooks character: “So, you can name all 12 Supreme Court Justices?” William Hurt Character: (offended) “Of course I can!” Albert Brooks Character: “There are only 9 Justices…” Extra points to all who caught me out on the Nixon/Reagan thing… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/39 "2005-04-05T23:51:38Z")
It was _Broadcast News._ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758/40 "2005-04-06T11:51:54Z")
What Cornyn said was intemperate in the extreme, no better than an incitement to riot. Incidentally, Cornyn pissed off a lot of right wingers with this rhetoric, not just me. As an example, [National Review authors posting here haven’t been sympathetic.](http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/corner.asp) I hope he apologizes for this, and pronto. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sen-cornyn-judicial-activism-incited-judical-murders/297758.md?page=3)