To the editor:

“We regard the decision of the Supreme Court in the school cases as a clear abuse of judicial power. It climaxes a trend in the ‘judiciary undertaking to legislate’ : “

“The Supreme Court, with no legal basis for such action, undertook to exercise their naked judicial power and substituted their personal political and social ideas for the established law of the land.”

“This unwarranted exercise of power by the Court” … “We pledge ourselves to use all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation.”

Sound familiar? Have you heard those words in press conferences by Kansas conservative legislators? Have you read them in the press?

You’ll be surprised to learn they were penned back in 1956 as part of the “Southern Manifesto.” In this talk about the Court, don’t forget that the 100 legislators who signed their names to these words were talking about a different court decision – one known as Brown vs. Board of Education.

When complaining about activist judges, don’t forget that President George W. Bush was here in Kansas to pay tribute to that activist court just a year ago.

The courts stand to protect people from the whims of the majority, whether that’s segregation in our schools that unfairly disadvantaged minority children or financial neglect of our schools that unfairly disadvantages all children.

The “Southern Manifesto” can be found on the Web site of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.

Mark Desetti,

Lawrence