: Sources on the Hill went and pulled the transcript of what
: Cornyn said, and it read: SENATOR JOHN CORNYN: "I
: don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we
: have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in
: this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have
: run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's
: been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some
: connection between the perception in some quarters on some
: occasions where judges are making political decisions yet
: are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and
: builds up and builds up to the point where some people
: engage in - engage in violence." [Senate Floor,
: 4/4/05]
Somewhere over the past couple of decades, someone got the idea into his or her head that the utter frustration he or she is having with a judge or two is best resolved with an ULTIMATE decision: to engage in some type of violence and put an end to someone's life--the judge's, their own, others around them, etc.
THAT'S NEVER THE ANSWER under any circumstances.
But there is a crisis going on in our judicial system, and it's apparently going on everywhere. If it can happen with a circuit judge (a PROBATE judge, for god's sake) in Pinellas County or a stupid associate judge here in good ol' southern Illinois, it's DARN SURE going on in higher courts and judicial reform is the only way to resolve it.
Judges need to get it through their heads that they are not elected (and that's ELECTED, folks, as in the democratic process, and yes, they are republicans or democrats or independents, so they are to a degree PARTISAN) to sit on a bench in a big black robe and PLAY GOD. Our ELECTED legislators make laws; our law enforcement (such as it is) enforces them; judges are there to essentially BE THE REFEREE and base sound decisions on existing law, not make it up as they go along.
Recently they've been overstepping their bounds. This violence we've been observing in courtrooms is the consequent result. This happens in every type of system where "leaders" and the like go beyond the scope of their positions.
Are we observing a revolution of sorts? Maybe. All we can say from here is that there's something WRONG in the "normal operations" of our court system--IT'S BROKEN. The only way it can be fixed is to figure out HOW IT STARTED...our personal opinion here is that judicial terms are too long, people are being elected without any legitimate experience, and there's NO ONE to hold them ACCOUNTABLE and RESPONSIBLE...that's just CORRUPTION in a bottle waiting to be uncapped. And it is. Too often.
People need to put their guns down and pick up their voter card.
J&A H.
DISCLOSURE
