5th Circuit Judge Jerry Smith stepped out of his bounds yesterday, and issued an ultimatum to the US Department of Justice and the federal Attorneys General. Judge Smith required an explanation of a comment made by the President, regarding judicial activism, to be presented in a tertiary trial on the ACA, in two days.
Judge Smith made an obvious political statement that was irrelevant to the case he was presiding over, first by questioning whether the President supported the court's role, as outlined in the US Constitution, and then by requiring the DOJ - the overseer of the judicial system - to speak for the President. The judge, quite aware that he couldn't legally call the President to his courtroom, instead made his (the judge's) bosses explain in a written note, the actions of the President.
Never mind of course, that elected Republican representatives in Congress and past Republican presidents have made innumerous public statements against judicial activism, even at times directed towards the SCOTUS.
Somehow, everyone has forgotten how many elected officials expressed outrage against the SCOTUS for upholding flag-burning as a 1st Amendment right, back in the late 80s.
But for argument's sake, if the Court rules that the ACA is completely legal, do you suppose Judge Smith will adhere to the SCOTUS ruling and apply the same standard to the case before him?
At best, Judge Smith is guilty of the very judicial activism that others have decried; at worst, he is deliberately ignoring law, using his politics to dictate how he rules.
He deserves at least to be censured. I think he should be impeached, though.
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