Quotes Of The Day: O’Connor Doesn’t Deserve To Be Praised

05 Jul, 2005 by John Hawkins

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“O’Connor is often praised for having been “unpredictable.” The suggestion is that she was non-ideological, impartial, fair. But the truth is that she was “unpredictable” because she was arbitrary. She was dangerously unwilling to think about whether and when judicial review can be justified in a democracy, and because of that unwillingness to think, her ultimate decisions too often looked less like law and much more like a raw assertion of power.” — David Frum

“O’Connor was ideologically indefinable. She was symbolic of the disappointment conservatives have routinely felt after all but a few Republican nominations to the high court.

…The Supreme Court has for far too long been controlled by justices who think they are masters of the Constitution, when the Founders intended it to be the other way around. If President Bush wants to restore the primacy of the Constitution, he must appoint a justice who views it, and not the personal opinions of five justices, as the supreme law of the land.” — The New Hampshire Union Leader

Over the last few days, it has been a struggle to control my gag reflex as Sandra Day O’Connor has been the recipient of the sort of gushing praise normally handed out when someone dies. Well, “Sandy baby,” as Redskins running back John Riggins once famously called her, ain’t dead yet, and deserves to be recognized for the mediocrity that she was.

Despite the fact that O’Connor is being talked about as if she’s some sort of modern day version of Solomon, she was entirely unimpressive. In fact, given her flighty and inconsistent rulings & her lack of guiding principles, she might as well have been replaced by a flipping coin.

Furthermore, her willingness to consider foreign law in making decisions showed her complete lack of respect for the Constitution & proved conclusively that she didn’t deserve to be on the Supreme Court of the United States.

So as far as I’m concerned, good bye and good riddance to O’Connor. She may have voted with the originalists at times, but she was a big part of the problem on the Supreme Court…