(REUTERS/Jason Reed)
Bush Rallying Voters to Prevent Legislative Judges

President Bush said in rallies in Montana and Nevada that if Democrats were in power Chief Justice John Roberts would be in the Supreme Court today. Bush insinuated that if Democrats were to gain control they would appoint a series of legislative judges: "If you want good, sound, conservative judges who will not legislate from the bench, you send Republicans back to the United States Senate," he said. I think that this is a ridiculous statement personally, as law school has taught me that judges often have to legislate from the bench. If the legislature could do its job and write clear, concise laws, then the judges wouldn't have to figure out things for themselves. However, Bush feels that "a good judiciary is one in which we've got judges who strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the bench." The problem with this is the real world application of the law requires legislation from the bench at times, without it the system would shut down. If legislation from the bench is so awful, why do we continue to have a common law system which relies heavily on precedent of judicial opinions?

A full transcript can be found here.

I know this isn't really an "international" story, but I included it as the makeup of the Supreme Court and this election have a big impact on our foreign policy.