Obama on a justice's role

[Steve Sanders]

As a con law professor, would Barack Obama have told his students that the
job of a Supreme Court justice was simply (to quote his statement this
morning) "to interpret, not make law" and to "faithfully apply the law to
the facts at hand"?  Indeed, is the latter even a competent description of
what appellate (as opposed to trial) courts do?  If not, why do we continue
to hear them as descriptors of so many politicians' ideal SCt justice?
Might we have expected better leadership from someone like Obama in
explaining to the nation what a Supreme Court justice actually does, rather
than falling back on these sorts of cliches?  
 
_____________________________________ 


Steve Sanders 


 <http://www.mayerbrown.com/lawyers/profile.asp?hubbardid=S597744167>
Attorney, Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice group, Mayer Brown
LLP, Chicago

Co-editor,  <http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/lgbtlaw/> Sexual Orientation
and the Law Blog

Adjunct faculty, University of Michigan Law School (Winter term 2010)

Email:  <mailto:stevesan at umich.edu> stevesan at umich.edu

Personal home page:  <http://www.stevesanders.net/> www.stevesanders.net

 

 
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ucla.edu/pipermail/conlawprof/attachments/20090526/d69fe3f0/attachment.htm>