"Good conservative judges don't "make policy," they simply enforce the law"

That is incorrect. Conservatives do not, nor does anyone, assume that the judiciary is part of the executive. enforcement of the law is part of the executive branch. The judiciary adjudicates law, an entirely different proposition.

"Sotomayor will no doubt face all kinds of criticisms, and some may be more persuasive than others. This one is just silly."

This may be a silly criticism, but we will make it work! When it comes to attacking The Chosen One, we do not have need of context. All we need is to pick a set of words and we will provide the interpretation.

After all, this is what she said!

Cases get appealed to the Circuit Court level for one reason: because the answer to the question being litigated is not clear

To be fair, most cases are appealed because hope springs eternal, and it's only a $450 filing fee, so why not appeal if you're the loser at the District level?

I can assure you that almost every single criminal case is appealed, and almost every single appeal is rejected. It's part of a defense attorney's job in representing her client to the best of her ability, and when a defendant is represented by a public defender or CJA attorney, the cost of the appeal is paid for by the public. (Cert petitions and appeals to the Supreme Court are generally not paid for by the public.)

Let the (media) circus begin. This will be a defining moment to see who has a better propaganda operation: Obama's administration or the Rethug echo chamber.

Bets anyone?

I can sound like a broken record (er, re&re-loading youtube, whatever - BTW, why is YouTube skipping and reloading so much lately? It sucks and spoils really cool dance-rock vids like "Shake" by Metro Station) about this, but: The Ninth Amendment refers to unenumerated rights. That means that judges have to create law by asking if a UR (such as privacy) may be involved. "Policy" may indeed come from such decisions. Furthermore, the meaning of "policy" refers to the context for each particular activity or subject anyway.

Someone should truly sponsor a contest to add some levity to this event. Instead of guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar, a prize should be awarded to the person who can best predict the number of times the phrase "activist judge is used."

Let there be no doubt, drinking games associated with this should be avoided, it will likely be suicide.

Thanks for linking to that piece, Steve. I read it yesterday and thought it was going to be a good way to fight back against any of the nonsense coming from the right. The only missing piece was a wider viewing, something you helped with.

Let's be honest, a significant majority of the people who still call themselves Republicans(as opposed to those who have become disenchanted with the course the GOP has taken) don't believe that there should be courts. If someone is arrested by the police, they assume that means they are guilty. Moreover, they believe that many of these people should be summarily executed while the rest should be imprisoned for life. It's a very simple worldview that seems complete to them.

It really is that simple, by and large. Happily, there are a few Republicans left who describe this for what it is; unhappily, they rarely speak up.

Cheers,

Alan Tomlinson

"This may be a silly criticism, but we will make it work!"

Wow, not only do you admit it is silly but go with it anyway, but you then speak for others of the same mindset. How many are included in this 'we' exactly?

Chuck Todd just said that Judge Sotomayor believed that appellate judges "legislate from the bench" in reference to her comment about setting policy.

Chuck Todd just said "It all began in a 5000 watt station in Fresno". Chuckie is the Ted Baxter of reporting.

Ah, RepuG judges, Mr Tomlinson. Once listened to a Reagan appointee to the LA Muni Court system. He taught criminal law and said, "Doesn't matter if a person is really not guilty of the particular facts in a case because I believe most people commit infractions and are never caught. My job is bring "Justice" to the court".