Newt Gingrich’s assault on ‘activist judges’ draws criticism, even from right

By Amy Gardner,
WashPost
Published: December 17

Never one to be accused of timidity, Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich is turning up the volume of his ongoing assault on “activist judges” so high that even conservatives say he is going too far.

In a half-hour phone call with reporters Saturday, Gingrich said that, as president, he would abolish whole courts to be rid of judges whose decisions he feels are out of step with the country.

“Are we forced for a lifetime to keep someone on the bench who is so radically anti-American that they are a threat to the fabric of the country?” Gingrich asked. “What kind of judge says you’ll go to jail if the word ‘invocation’ is used? If this isn’t a speech dictatorship, I’d like you to show me what one looks like.”

In campaign speeches, he likes to criticize by name a federal judge in Texas who blocked prayer in a public school. On Thursday in Sioux City, Iowa, at the most recent presidential debate, he called for judges to be compelled to explain their decisions before Congress.

(More here.)