{"id":42091,"date":"2014-05-19T22:05:07","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T04:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/19\/constitutional-rights-are-not-a-popularity-contest.html"},"modified":"2014-11-05T14:13:27","modified_gmt":"2014-11-05T21:13:27","slug":"constitutional-rights-are-not-a-popularity-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/19\/constitutional-rights-are-not-a-popularity-contest.html","title":{"rendered":"Constitutional Rights are not a popularity contest"},"content":{"rendered":"
Judges sometimes make unpopular rulings, which lead to loud, strident cries of "This violates the Will of the People! How DARE this judge make such a ruling?!"<\/p>\n

Judges have two jobs. The first is to determine the facts, based on the evidence and testimony in a case. The second — especially as you climb up the chain — is to determine whether a particular application of the law, or even a law itself, is in keeping with higher law — a state constitution, or the Federal Constitution.<\/p>\n

While constitutions are based, ultimately, on the will of the people, the nature of the constitutional system is that they are not easily or quickly or reactively changed. That's by design, because the majority is (as any of the Founders would have told you) an important power, but a fickle and not-always-trustworthy one.<\/p>\n

Thus, it's not surprising that judges occasionally come up with rulings that are not in keeping with the immediate, here-and-now popular will. If we were purely a democracy in such things, we wouldn't need (or want) a constitution.<\/p>\n

Impeaching judges (or, in some states, voting them out at the next election) provides some power the people, but it really needs to be reserved for cases of clear malfeasance or incompetence, not for doing things that are unpopular. If a judge is ruling based on a constitution in a way that's unpleasant or difficult or unpopular — well, then change the law or the constitution in question. A judge is not intended<\/i> to follow the popular opinion — if so, then we'd simply allow lynch mobs to do their work and be done with it.\ufeff<\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

Hey, Mike Huckabee, Here\u2019s Why Impeaching a Pro-Gay Judge Isn\u2019t a Great Idea<\/a>
\n On Monday, Mike Huckabee\u2014former Arkansas governor, failed presidential candidate, and noted misogynist\u2014called for the impeachment of Arkansas County Circuit Judge Christopher Piazza after the judge invalidated his state\u2019s gay marriage ban. \u201cThe Governor,\u201d Huckabee proclaimed in a statement, \u201cshould call a special session of the legislature and impeach the judge…\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judges sometimes make unpopular rulings, which lead to loud, strident cries of "This violates the Will of the People! How DARE this judge make such a ruling?!" Judges have two jobs. The first is to determine the facts, based on the evidence and testimony in a case. The second — especially as you climb up … Continue reading “Constitutional Rights are not a popularity contest”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,350,718,358],"tags":[586],"class_list":["post-42091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-civil-liberties","category-marriage-equality","category-poor-citizenship","tag-pluspost"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22292,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/08\/21\/rick-perry-loves-the-constitution-except-where-its-evil.html","url_meta":{"origin":42091,"position":0},"title":"Rick Perry loves the Constitution, except where it’s EVIL!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 21-Aug-11 7:12pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The US Constitution is a great thing. It's not perfect, by any means -- it has been amended over a couple dozen times, but then, that's not bad for over two centuries track record. So I don't object to revisions to the Constitution per se, but I object to ones\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2012"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2012","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2012"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/rick-perry-thumbs-up.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/rick-perry-thumbs-up.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/rick-perry-thumbs-up.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/rick-perry-thumbs-up.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/rick-perry-thumbs-up.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33340,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/04\/23\/constitutional-rights-for-me-but-not-for-thee.html","url_meta":{"origin":42091,"position":1},"title":"Constitutional Rights for Me, but Not for Thee","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 23-Apr-13 6:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"If only we had the clear vision and insight of Brian Kilmeade to determine who is \"worthy of the constitutional rights that we have\" and who is not. \u00a0Oh, wait, he doesn't claim to have that insight, but is apparently willing to let law enforcement make that determination -- because,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7717,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/01\/13\/legal_cycles_of.html","url_meta":{"origin":42091,"position":2},"title":"Legal cycles of indeterminate length","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 13-Jan-05 9:15am","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the Dark Ages, when I was in high school debate, one of the annual topics (my sophomore year, as I recall) was Legal Reform. One of the hot...","rel":"","context":"In "Crime & Punishment"","block_context":{"text":"Crime & Punishment","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/crime-punishment"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49302,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/21\/ben-carson-needs-to-study-the-constitution-a-bit-more.html","url_meta":{"origin":42091,"position":3},"title":"Ben Carson needs to study the Constitution a bit more","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 21-Jan-15 11:28am","format":false,"excerpt":"Carson, who is sort of a darling \"outsider\" proto-candidate on the GOP side for the 2016 Presidential Elections, seems to think that federal judges have no business telling states that their laws are unconstitutional, esp. regarding civil rights for gays and marriage equality.'The states have a mechanism whereby they can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14430,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/03\/go-iowa-go.html","url_meta":{"origin":42091,"position":4},"title":"Go, Iowa, go!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 3-Apr-09 10:48am","format":false,"excerpt":"Whodathunk a solidly Midwestern state would be the next one whose High Court would rule banning gay marriage is unconstitutional? But Iowa's done it. The Iowa Supreme Court says the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples, making it the third state where gay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LGBTQ &c"","block_context":{"text":"LGBTQ &c","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/gay-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49280,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/18\/on-scotus-and-same-sex-marriage-more-than-two-alternatives.html","url_meta":{"origin":42091,"position":5},"title":"On SCOTUS and Same-Sex Marriage: More than Two Alternatives","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 18-Jan-15 10:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"With the Supreme Court taking up gay marriage cases, the general consensus is that they will accept gay marriage and the requirement of the states to accept those marriages from other states.But (as both the article and the commentary below) indicate, it will be nearly as important to see how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42096,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42091\/revisions\/42096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}