Judging, Empathy and the Law: Part I

If you are going to pursue truth, you have to be prepared to change your mind!

Judging Empathy And Law: Part II

A few weeks ago, President Obama mentioned “empathy” as one of several qualities he would look for in his judicial appointments.

Some critics have asserted that “empathy” is just a code word for “activist judges” (apparently assuming that the ‘activist’ judiciary which has created a great deal of the fundamental law of our nation throughout our history was somehow ‘unamerican’ or acting contrary to the funding principles of the nation.)

Accepting that “code word” characterization at face value, it should be noted that, in this era of our history, “activist judge” is itself a code word for “liberal judge.”

Conservatives have openly advocated a conservative judiciary and the appointment of conservative judges - a perfectly natural and appropriate expression of their views.

At best, it it disingenuous, however, to condemn liberals for advocating a liberal judiciary when one engages in exactly the same sort of political advocacy from a different viewpoint.