Letter: Law, not politics, focus of judiciary

Thursday, May 26, 2005 | 9:20 a.m.

It is unfortunate that the Republicans in the Senate have forgotten that our government was not designed to be a pure democracy. Rather, it was designed as a republic with special safeguards built in to assure that power could not be concentrated in a small number of hands.

The extremists currently in control of the Republican Party are bent on replacing our constitutional system with a religious theocracy. To accomplish this, they have started by referring to any judge who does not rule the way they want them to as an "activist," even when such decisions are based on precedents. Combined with this, they are still seeking, despite this week's compromise, to modify Senate rules that have preserved our values for most of our nation's history.

It is sad that everyone is seeming to forget why we have judges in the first place. The federal judiciary is designed to discourage political motives. Federal judges do not have to campaign or make political deals to stay in office. They are independent so that they can interpret the law the way they believe it is supposed to be done without fear of reprisal.

Those who back the attempt to alter the process by which we choose these individuals play a dangerous game. This process has made sure that sober jurists who keep the Constitution first and foremost in their minds are appointed. Changing that process is dangerous. This ongoing idea to remove the filibuster is ill-conceived and short-sighted.

JASON GORDON