Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Consent decrees: The other Judicial activism

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) have seized the opportunity to rein in the judiciary and their activist allies, by introducing legislation in Congress that would put term limits on consent decrees. The bill would allow a state or local government, that is under a consent decree, to file a motion to vacate, or modify the consent decree, four years after the decree is entered, or six months after the end of the term of the elected official who authorized the settlement. This would shift the burden to the plaintiff, typically an activist public interest group, to show that the decree is still necessary.
It should be noted that this bill would only affect federal court consent decrees, and would not include decrees involving school desegregation.

While this legislation does not impact judicial activism by state
courts, it is a good first step by Congress to exercise its Constitutional authority to limit the power of the lower federal courts. And, it is the first battle in a long fight against judicial activism and the restoration of the Constitution's guarantee of self-government: government of, by, and for the people.

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