Beldar on O'Conner

This afternoon, there's some outstanding insight from Beldar on Justice O'Connor.

In hindsight, however, the most significant and predictive prior credential that Justice O'Connor brought to the Court was as a former Arizona state senator — and indeed, she was not just any state senator, but the majority leader of the Arizona state senate. As a Justice, she's been quirky and unpredictable — the pragmatic politician and compromiser, rather than a consistent bastion of any legal or philosophical principles. And thus I also find much in her overall record to fault.

If there are one or two such Justices on the Court at any given time, that may not be a bad thing. If there are three or more, though, the Court loses its effectiveness in leading the federal judiciary; it produces fractured results, splintered decisions, unpredictability, inconsistency, and philosophical muck. Congress can consistently create enough of that for all three branches of government combined, and that's where the pure politicians, the compromisers, ought to hold forth.

I think that's not only an oustanding insight, it's an important one. What we've seen out of the court for the last several years is exactly what he's talking about - judges making decisions to achieve desired results, rather than what the law and constitution call for. Well, OK, it's not just the last several years - it's pretty much forever.

But it's still a good point. Anyway, it's a great article - read the whole thing...