Posted by Joel Mathis February 10, 2005 at 9:48 a.m.

Activist judges

Sen. Sam Brownback, a newly minted member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is going after "activist judges."In an editorial co-written with Sen. Orrin Hatch for today's [Washington Times,][1] Brownback says: "Activist judges continue to prove that bad judges make bad law."Hatch and Brownback discuss the Jan. 20 decision in the "US v. Extreme Associates" case, where the company was charged with 10 counts related to the distribution of pornography that depicted rape, torture and murder." When the people at Extreme sent these films through the mail, they violated federal anti-obscenity statutes," Hatch and Brownback said. "Yet what should have been a slam-dunk conviction turned into a ruling that these statutes are unconstitutional."The problem, the senators said, is the constitution contains no provision protecting pornography sent through the mail."U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster of Western Pennsylvania, said that the indictment against Extreme violated not the First Amendment's right to free speech, but an unwritten constitutional 'right to sexual privacy, which encompasses a right to possess and view sexually explicit material in the privacy of one's own home,'" the senators said. "He could only come to this bizarre conclusion by stitching together bits and pieces from inapplicable precedents (and making a few things up altogether) to form a Frankenstein's monster of judicial activism."The senators offer no solution in the editorial, only a criticism of the judges."This is what happens when judges ignore the law in favor of their own agenda," they write. "In their wake, the Constitution lies in shambles, statutes passed by the people's representatives are in the dumpster, the rule of law loses its vitality and, once again, the people are deprived of the right to govern themselves and define the culture."Other links today:Pat Roberts links [Kansas ranks No. 8 nationally in mobilization rates:][2] "According to the Defense Department, National Guard and reserve units from Kansas have the nation's eighth-highest mobilization rate per-capita, with 11.2 active-duty soldiers called to active duty for every 10,000 residents in the state," reports The Lawrence Journal-World. "These numbers reflect the patriotism of Kansans," said U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. Sam Brownback links [Calif. Panel Going After Anti-Cloning Bill:][3] "The campaign committee that spent $35 million last year backing California's novel $3 billion stem cell initiative plans to use its fund-raising prowess to fight a federal bill seeking to ban all forms of human cloning," reports The Associated Press. "Robert Klein II, the wealthy Palo Alto housing developer who chaired the campaign, said the organization intends to raise $1 million to fight Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, and his anti-cloning allies in the Senate. A Brownback spokesman declined comment."How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation [here.][4] [1]: http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20050209-082410-9837r.htm [2]: http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/195818 [3]: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13614-2005Feb10.html [4]: http://ljworld.com/extra/where_to_write.html#fed