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i am not saying that "judicial activism" is the only political category that has become associated with the actions of judges who occupy a particular political position--i am saying that it is not different in kind.
or: it is also a political category.
political categories are evaluated like any other argument is--you know, how they fit with the information that they are supposed to speak to. so when thinking about the "activism" of a generation of judges, say, in the context of claims to the will of the people, you evaluate them by a sense of fit--that is, you evaluate them politically.
you talk about "what is there" in the constitution in a context that you know entails a kind of pretext for cutting back law that you dont like politically (think roe v. wade) because the premise undercuts the legitimacy of precedent/interpretations advanced under the rubric of "liberal" judges or "judicial activists"--that is political.
or: the idea that it makes sense to assume that a document like the constitution is static at the levels of meaning is also a political choice.
say there were sometime lots of strict constructionist judges.
if the language in the constitution is not stable at the level of meanings (you know, not wholly unstable, but not wholly stable either) then it will effectively be declared stable in particular areas by strict constructionist style judges as a function of cases and, of course, relevant political considerations. this because no-one is in a position to simply change the rules all at once, you see--so change would be piecemeal, like alzheimer's fading in. these declarations will be the prerogative of certain people, who will be in the main not elected, not accountable to any democratic process---they will also engage in judicial activism. maybe radical acts of judicial activism, because declaring elements of the constitution to be static just seems like a radical thing to do.
but maybe i'm wrong and that would not be judicial activism or tyranny or whatever.
they're your terms, so you get to decide.
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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