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Editorial:

Rehnquist to DeLay: Bug off on judges

San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 01/12/2004 12:00 AM

Like some of those pesky little creatures he exterminated before becoming a high-powered lawmaker, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, has a habit of popping up in places where he doesn't belong.

His ill-advised and unfortunate role in Texas redistricting is the most obvious example, but his continuing effort to intimidate federal judges is equally egregious.

Since last summer, the majority leader has pushed for the creation of a House Working Group on Judicial Accountability — all Republicans — that would monitor judges to make sure they adhere to strict sentencing standards.

The group would "take no prisoners," DeLay warned.

Attorney General John Ashcroft is on the same wavelength. Last August, the attorney general ordered federal attorneys across the nation to monitor judges and report them to the Justice Department if they tried to exercise sentencing discretion.

This came after Congress passed a law ordering the Justice Department to notify it if judges hand down lighter sentences than sentencing guidelines demand.

The intimidation effort is back in the news these days because of a stern warning from Chief Justice William Rehnquist. In his year-end report on the courts, Rehnquist wrote that the law "would appear to be an unwarranted and ill-considered effort to intimidate individual judges in the performance of their judicial duties."

Judges need discretion in order to tailor the punishment to the crime; otherwise, a machine could perform their job. Sentencing guidelines are just that — guidelines — and there is no evidence that judges are ignoring them.

None of that matters, however, to DeLay and other alleged conservatives who see nothing wrong with radically reshaping the constitutional separation of powers.

They would do well to heed the words of that raving liberal, Chief Justice Rehnquist: "It is Congress's job to legislate, but each branch of our government has a unique perspective, and taking into account these diverse perspectives improves the process."

That's a polite way of telling the former Houston exterminator and his congressional friends to bug off. If only they would listen.


01/12/2004

 

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