another lie from CAMP BUSHKEE
'Activist Judges' Mainly GOP Appointees Study Shows
By Doreen Brandt
365Gay.com Newscenter
Tuesday 02 March 2004
(Washington, D.C.) A Senate sub committee Wednesday will hear testimony about the implications
of judicial decisions supporting same-sex marriage. The hearing, set up by Sen. John Cornyn's
(R-Texas) the chair of the subcommittee, is officially titled "Judicial Activism vs. Democracy: What are
the National Implications of the Massachusetts Goodridge Decision and the Judicial Invalidation of
Traditional Marriage Laws?"
Cornyn has a lengthy history of opposing gay rights initiatives, was critical of the US Supreme
Court decision that overturned the Texas sodomy law, and condemned the Massachusetts Supreme
Court for ruling in favor of gay marriage.
"The title for the hearing is a cynical rhetorical set-up that calls into question the legitimate role of
our judiciary. And to make matters worse, the committee's effort is also to plant the idea that basic civil
rights should be reduced to a popularity contest and call that democracy. This is shameful," said David
Tseng, executive director of PFLAG.
"To discuss 'judicial activism' in this way is offensive. It is a way to attack judges who demonstrate
courage and principle in matters of civil rights. The same was said of Chief Justice Earl Warren when
he wrote the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Board of Education. What we take for granted to
day as clearly the right decision was derided in its time as 'judicial activism.' "
But just who are these 'activist' judges? Lambda Legal has just complete a lengthy study of recent
court rulings that favored gays.
Six of the seven justices on the Massachusetts high court that recently ruled gay couples have the
right to marry were appointed by Republican governors.
Republican presidents appointed four of the six U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to strike
down Texas's law banning gay couples from having sex.
The orange County judge who in 2000 issued an injunction requiring public school officials to allow a
Gay-Straight Alliance student club to meet on campus because it allowed other non-curriculum-related
groups to meet has a history of mainly conservative rulings has also been called an "activist". However,
most of his other rulings have been distinctively conservative.
Another judge with an extensive conservative background is Justice Dunne is a state court judge in
Long Island, New York. In 2003, Dunne ruled that a gay man could sue a hospital for the wrongful death
of his late partner; it was the first case in the nation that respected a couple with a civil union from
Vermont as "spouses."
"The claim that 'activist judges' are behind these rulings for equality is nothing short of a fraud," said
Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director Lambda Legal.
"Our Constitution requires judges to be fair-minded and independent, regardless of their political
beliefs and sometimes in the face of strong political opposition."
Lambda Tuesday announced a multi-pronged, multi-state campaign to challenge misinformation
from opponents of same-sex marriage.
The campaign, said Cathcart, will hold politicians and organizations responsible for using false
claims to advance an antigay political agenda. Called "Judging Discrimination" it will use ads in
mainstream daily newspapers in targeted states to debunk the claims, organize letter campaigns to
criticize public officials, and challenge the media to be wary of politicians and groups using the phrase
"activist judges".
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