| As you might have deduced from reading my writings, I am not a big fan of activist judges. Many judges are quite good at their jobs and perform the role they are intended to perform, which is exactly analagous to an umpire in baseball. Good judges call pitches and strikes, fair and foul balls, but give not the slightest opinion on how the game is being played. But then there are characters like the judge in the "Zombie Muhammad" case. It would be a better world if such judges were reguarly disciplined when they abuse their powers as District Justice Mark Martin did in the case in Mechanicsburg, Pa. As it now stands, judges have the power to impose their personal philosophies on members of the public without any regard for the right of free speech. Note at the approximate 30-minute mark of the above video when the judge starts imposing his political views on the victim of an attack by a Muslim who objected to his Halloween costume. Imagine the victim had informed the judge that he had no intention of listening to the judge's assault on his First Amendment right to express his opinions freely in public. The victim could be hauled off in handcuffs. Also note here on the Volokh Conspiracy, where the judge threatened the victim with contempt of court, ie possible jail time, for simply placing the above recording on the Internet. And note where the judge tries to claim that he can prevent the victim from circulating a recording of his diatribe: "A lesson learned here: there's a ... |
