A SCOTUS Opening

[Mickeypoo]

(09-22-2020, 10:11 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: One of the best pieces of writing I have read on this was "Do Liberals and Conservatives Differ in Judicial Activism?" by Frank Easterbrook. Here is the link, but I don't know if it will work without subscription access: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2135&context=journal_articles

There is also, from the same publication, "Beyond Judicial Activism and Restraint" by Richard Epstein. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2232&context=journal_articles

Easterbrook actually goes into cases and decisions by SCOTUS, analyzing them based on their "judicial activism" and finds that it's at issue on both sides. But the important thing to note from both articles is that they point out the almost useless idea of the term to begin with. Easterbrook puts it flat out there by saying:


He talks towards the end about his analysis and wraps up with this:

He does provide an appendix of the cases used at the end, so I won't rehash them here. I also just want to point out that this is a Federal Appeals Court Judge appointed by Ronald Reagan and is a rather conservative jurist.

Very interesting!   Thank you.