One of the greatest ongoing threats to our constitutional republicis the ever-increasing politicization of the federal judiciary. Insteadof interpreting the law according to its plain or original meaning,many judges are using the Constitution and statutes passed by Congressas a mere pretense for imposing their policy preferences on theAmerican people. This is unacceptable. The role of a judge is tointerpret the law, not to legislate from the bench; and as president, Iwill only appoint men and women who share this view.
I firmly believe that the Constitution must be interpreted accordingto its original meaning, and flatly reject the notion of a "livingConstitution." The meaning of the Constitution cannot be changed byjudicial fiat. The powers delegated to the federal government by theConstitution come from "We the People," and judges have no right toprohibit the people from passing democratically-enacted laws unless wehave explicitly authorized them to do so. Nor can vaguely-wordedlanguage in the Constitution be used by judges to give them power oversubjects the framers never intended our founding document to address.As such, any interpretation of the Constitution that is based on"evolving standards of decency," penumbras, or any other judicialfiction, is antithetical to the rule of law, and must be forcefullychallenged.
As president, I will appoint justices and judges who not only sharemy judicial philosophy ( e.g., Chief Justice John Roberts, JusticeAntonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Samuel Alito), butwho also have established themselves within the conservative legalcommunity as faithful adherents of originalism and textualism. Thestakes are simply too high to do otherwise.
Finally, I wholeheartedly believe "that the state exists to preservefreedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to ourConstitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of thejudiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be"; and I will doeverything in my power as president to promote these cherishedprinciples.
Dave Welch*
Kelly Shackelford*
Rick Scarborough*