Here is a letter that I sent just now to the Los Angeles Times:
Erwin Chemerinsky rightly criticizes as being inconsistent those conservatives who have longed raged against judicial activism but who now applaud the Citizens United decision (“Conservatives embrace judicial activism in campaign finance ruling,” Jan. 23).
Too many conservatives, such as Robert Bork, overreacted to Warren-court excesses by calling on judges to be mere ciphers for legislatures. To the extent, however, that these conservatives wished to promote a society of free and responsible individuals, they should instead have endorsed judicial activism in support of the Constitution‘s clear enumeration of the limited powers granted to the national government and its equally clear protections of individuals rights against infringement by government.
Had they taken this course, such conservatives could consistently oppose all unconstitutional extensions of government power, be these the result of overreaching by judges or the result of overreaching by the executive branch or the legislature.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
