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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hottest issue in America today,
By
This review is from: Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges (Hardcover)
With a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California outlawing our Pledge of Allegiance because it contains the words, "one nation under God," and the case of Lawrence v. Texas in which a constitutionally protected 'right' to sodomy was discovered, there couldn't be a more informative and timely book or a better author on the subject of law, precedent, and the role of the judiciary in America. Robert Bork presents factual evidence of worldwide judicial tyranny.While the 11th Circuit puts the 10 Commandments in the closet in Alabama and the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals finds that a 4-year-old had no right to give out pencils that said "Jesus loves the little children" as Easter presents to classmates, we must ask ourselves: are we ruled by Law or by Men? To quote the author from one interview, "The nations in the West are increasingly governed not by law or elected representatives, but by unelected, unrepresentative, unaccountable committees of lawyers applying the law in accordance with nothing other than their own will." How will you decide this issue of judicial activism? Will you champion various court decisions because they align with your worldview, despite the consequences to our unique constitutional form of government in America and the delicate balance of power and culture between nations? U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy cited *foreign* court rulings as a basis (in part) for his decision in Lawrence v. Texas, and Ruth Bater Ginsberg was later quoted affirming and defending that practice. The New York Times has reported openly and approvingly that judges are engaging in a "worldwide constitutional conversation."
29 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One Court, one vote.......,
By
This review is from: Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges (Hardcover)
Robert Bork's thesis is that "the rule of law has become confused with -- indeed subverted by -- by the rule of judges." This is, he contends, precisely what judidicial activism seeks to accomplish. The result, Bork argues, is minority rule, and the minority "at least for the foreseeable future" is the New Class, a group Bork describes as "overwhelmingly liberal [leftist] in its outlook." Readers, in my opinion, would do well to remember that Bork attacks judicial activism principally because it is anti-democratic. There is, he thinks, a strong tendency for activism and liberalism to arrive in the same package, but it is not inevitable. Yet, in the countries he examines -- Canada, Israel and the U.S. -- he finds a leftist judiciary usurping legislative power. More interesting, in my view, than his country-specific examples, was his discussion of the deference that Courts around the world are increasingly paying to international law, and international courts. "The major difficulty," he contends, "with international law is that it converts what are essentially problems of international morality, as defined by a particular community, into arguments about law that are largely drained of morality." The validity of Mr. Bork's central contention is difficult to evaluate. It requires finding counter-examples, or their absence, in the mass of law he has surveyed. That is beyond the scope of the ordinary citizen (not to mention this reviewer). However, assuming Bork's argument is valid, two inter-related puzzles surface. (1) Why are we not seeing more of a backlash against the "rule of judges" in democracies that have experienced judicial activism? (2) Why are Courts continually held in high esteem? Discussing the case of Israel, Bork finds "less and less reason for the Israeli people to bother electing a legislature and executive; the attorney general, with the backing of the Supreme Court, can decide almost everything for them." Fair enough, but why, then, do Israelis continue the charade? Bork is aware of the problem, and he correctly notes that a range of factors might contribute to the apathetic response he witnesses. The one possibility he seems not to consider is that the thesis itself is flawed; that, however it may look to him, citizens are obtaining from Courts outcomes consistent with their expectations. Of course, such an answer would still not satisfy Bork: Courts are not just about outcomes, but about processes, and activists that stray from the intent of the law they interpret are writing law, not finding it. The underlying problem may have much less to do about citizens recapturing lost ground from allegedly wayward Courts, and much more about what it means to be a citizen. Bork's lamentation may be on target: "Perhaps a preference for immediate victories is part of the spirit of our times." Perhaps citizens are weary and cynical. Perhaps "the old civics lessons," which Bork believes are still sound, are evolving in ways that differ from the past. Coming to grips with these and other such issues constitutes, at least for me, the principal reason to read and contemplate Robert Bork's case.
18 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insight from a good teacher,
By
This review is from: Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges (Hardcover)
The book offer a very convincing, if frightening, view of modern jurisprudence (sic, lack of "prudence"). Bob Bork completes the one-two-three punch by comparing the court activists in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. He traces the major activists back to their dirty, little holes. He accurately shows how judges, from many parts of the World, have replaced the rule of law with the rule of judges. Interestingly, the U.S., while in dire condition, is not the worst. Israel takes the anti-democratic cake. In Israel, the Supreme Court has made itself the arbiter of all laws and state policies, including defense policy and procedures. The Prime Minister and Knesset are a secondary part of government. The common tread holding judges in such absolute, non checkable power is the vociferous public drubbing anyone takes who questions whether a judge's ruling is really law. This has led to most important "law" being made by unelected. It has dissipated the moral calculations of the legislature in favor of the moral calculations of the judges. They have become so bold as to ignore the black letter of the statute in favor of what they believe a "smart" legislature would or should have wanted to enact. Bob Bork says that there are four approaches for correcting the fast slide into dictatorship. The first two deal with using the mechanisms in the Constitution to reign in the courts. But, since the courts don't really pay attention to the Constitution, he doesn't think these have any hope of success. I momentarily forget his third approach - equally short on probability of success. He says the best of the four is mere holding action: Attempt to change the law culture to spurn judicial activism in favor of (Justice Scalia's term) textual-ism. Frankly, Bork holds little hope for success for any restoration of the rule of law (verses rule of judges). Because, eventually, a judge will issue an activist ruling racketing the law in the direction of the minority, New Class. I rate the book 4-stars because the material's presentation is a bit dry. But, you have to love this guy: After decades of service to his country, he continues to plug away in the service of ordered liberty. Thanks Mr. Bork for taking the time to teach about the law.
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