The Protection Racket

'No, no, it's not a threat, just, well, call it, uh, a warning. You've got some beautiful judges there. It'd be a shame if some of them broke, now, wouldn't it? Because they do, you know. Judges break real easy.'

Sen. John Cornyn said yesterday that recent examples of courthouse violence may be linked to public anger over judges who make politically charged decisions without being held accountable.

In a Senate floor speech in which he sharply criticized a recent Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty, Cornyn (R-Tex.) -- a former Texas Supreme Court justice and member of the Judiciary Committee -- said Americans are growing increasingly frustrated by what he describes as activist jurists.

"It causes a lot of people, including me, great distress to see judges use the authority that they have been given to make raw political or ideological decisions," he said. Sometimes, he said, "the Supreme Court has taken on this role as a policymaker rather than an enforcer of political decisions made by elected representatives of the people."

Cornyn continued: "I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. . . . And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters, on some occasions, where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in, engage in violence. Certainly without any justification, but a concern that I have."

'As I say, I'm just concerned, is all. Sometimes, well, things happen, you know what I mean? Do ya?'

Perception in some quarters, on some occassions, that judges are making political decisions? Hmm, where do you suppose they could they get that impression? Could it be all those Republicans who keep making that accusation, whenever a judge (or a Justice) disagrees with them? Are we supposed to think that judges are responsible for whipping up the hysteria and violence, or political scoundrels like Senator Cornyn who demean the legal system and accuse even conservative judges of being murderers and ideologues?

Have these men no shame? Innocent people have been killed. Of course, the killers in those recent cases weren't actually attempting to thwart the interference of the judiciary in political decisions, despite right-wing fantasies. But, if the good Senator can use those deaths to intimidate some jurists into following his line, then I see he's happy to do so. Disgusting.