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The biggest problem America faces today is out-of-control activist judges. Lawsuits are being filed in state after state, asking courts to ban the Pledge of Allegiance (because it includes the words “under God”), to ban the Ten Commandments from public buildings and parks, and to challenge the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Shockingly, some (but not all) courts are siding with the pressure groups (such as the American Civil Liberties Union and gay activists) that are filing these outrageous lawsuits. It is Congress’s job to tell the courts we are not going to tolerate the activist judges’ assaults on the Pledge, on the Ten Commandments, and on Marriage. Congress should use its Article III power to pass laws withdrawing jurisdiction from all federal courts over these three issues. Judges are supposed to be like baseball umpires: we need them to call the close ones, but the fans would boo them out of the game if they tried to change the rules by calling a batter out after two strikes. The solution is in the U.S. Constitution. It’s not only completely constitutional for Congress to take away from all federal courts the power to rule on the Pledge of Allegiance, the Ten Commandments, and Marriage ? it’s Congress’s constitutional duty to restrain the out-of-control courts. That’s the only way to maintain our constitutional separation of powers. Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers that he expected Congress to use its “discretion” to keep the judiciary “the least dangerous” of the three branches of government. Article III, Section 1 states: “The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Thus, Congress created the federal courts, and whatever Congress created it can uncreate, abolish, limit, or regulate. Article III, Section 2 states: “The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.” Thus, Congress can take away and regulate the Supreme Court’s power to decide certain types of cases. Congress has used this authority many times. In 2002, Senator Tom Daschle got Congress to pass a law to prohibit the courts from hearing cases about brush clearing in South Dakota. Surely the Pledge of Allegiance, the Ten Commandments, and Marriage are just as important as brush clearing in South Dakota. So what is Congress waiting for? If we can’t stand up for the Ten Commandments, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the sanctity of marriage, what in the world do we stand for? It’s time for the American people to demand that our Members of Congress use the powers they are given in the U.S. Constitution to halt the unconstitutional rulings of activist judges. |
