U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bryant visited the University of Memphis Law School this afternoon to deliver the kick-off address for the local chapter of the Federalist Society. Bryant spoke on Constitutional law, government ethics, judicial confirmation and the recent politicization of the judiciary.
“Politics has captured the entire process of the nomination and confirmation of federal judges,” he said.
Bryant started his speech by reminding students of the history of the Constitution’s ratification, and touched on Hamiltion’s Federalist Papers, Marbury v Madison and McCulloch v. Maryland, before moving to more recent events in order to provide some context to discuss the confirmation of John Roberts, the Supreme Court nominee currently before the Senate.
Bryant said he fears too many judges “accept the prinicple of the evolving document,” which has two serious consequences: 1. the power of the Judicial Branch is inflated, and 2. the judicial system is destabilized, causing Americans to doubt the finality of rulings and making it difficult to determine future rulings.
He brought out a good point: if judicial activists want the law to change in order to reflect society, there is already a way to allow for that sort of dynamic activity; it’s called the admendment process. Change should come through new laws and amendments, not through new interpretations.
Bryant said he is unsure when “advise and consent” became “advise and prevent,” but pointed to the not-too-distant Scalia confirmation in 1986 (98-0) as a model for what could and should be.
“Judicial confirmation has morphed into the most bitter version of a political campaign,” Bryant said, to the point where political groups such as NARAL are now running ads on television to oppose the confirmation of Judge Roberts.
Bryant said Roberts is a “great selection,” who received the highest ABA rating and is universally acclaimed by his peers. He also made some predictions: Roberts’ confirmation will be filibuster-free, he will be approved by the Senate by a vote of 75-25, and Bush will appoint two more justices before his term expires in 2009.
During the question and answer period, Bryant said he was generally not in favor of judical term limits or “court stripping legislation,” preferring instead to use the current and historical process to put good judges on the bench; Bryant said it all starts with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
He also said the judicial nominees shouldn’t have to answer questions about specific cases or issues and that a nominee’s religion shouldn’t factor into the process.
Funniest line of the day, during the question and answer period:
Q. “I’m not a student or a lawyer, but…”
A. “But you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night?”
