Bob Barr, June 28, 2002

Within one 24-hour period recently, we saw the very best and the very worst in judicial decision-making. We saw firsthand the incredible importance of ensuring our judicial system is comprised of fair, common-sense individuals who are guided by a basic understanding of the Constitution, rather than their own partisan political beliefs.

Unfortunately, this has been an issue largely ignored by the liberal national press corps since the Democrats assumed control of the Senate last year. Under the leadership of one of the most partisan majority leaders in recent memory, Senator Tom Daschle, and with the support of colleagues like Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, the Democrat-controlled Senate has brought to a virtual standstill President Bush's continued attempts to fill the thinning-ranks of our judicial system. Using well-known tactics honed during the attacks against Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, these Senators have consistently blocked a number of important nominees put forward by the President; judicial nominees needed not just to meet the growing demand on our court system, but to restore a sense of balance and common-sense to courts which have often placed personal ideology above prudence in recent years.

Nowhere was this growing problem more evident than in a recent decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California, which actually declared the Pledge of Allegiance "unconstitutional." Unfortunately, while many found this decision shocking, it was not as surprising to those of us who have seen how far jurisprudence has strayed from constitutional principles in recent years. This ridiculous ruling is perfectly consistent with the current judicial culture - supported by liberal Democrats nationwide - that bans prayer at graduation ceremonies, forbids Christmas trees from being displayed in the public square, and strips the Ten Commandments from the walls of courthouses (yet, which always seems to find a way to hold obscenity and pornography "constitutional").

Yet, for those with a common-sense understanding of our Constitution and the history of our great nation, it is understood our Founding Fathers never intended for religion to be stripped from public life. Just the opposite - they wanted a government based on biblical principles, and respectful of the religious underpinnings which caused the Europeans to flee to America in the first place. The phrase "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance is not a prayer to God; it merely recognizes the historical importance of religion in our founding and in our present-day culture.

Unfortunately, we can expect this type of outrageous jurisprudence to continue as long as the Senate continues to impose a litmus test against President Bush's judicial nominees who believe that the First Amendment protects - not forbids - religious expression.

A similarly important decision by the Supreme Court the very next day after the Pledge ruling, showed just how close we are to losing as a nation, the basic constitutional understanding. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled parents do have the right to choose where their children go to school, and granted them the right to use their own tax dollars to make that decision. Education choice not only gives parents of all income levels the chance to choose the best education possible for their children, but also provides a powerful incentive for all schools to strive for high levels of academic achievement. In the same series of rulings, the Court allowed schools to make decisions relating to controlling drug usage in the schools, by upholding their power to conduct random drug tests - this was another close, 5 to 4 decision

Yet, sadly enough, it is a virtual certainty these decisions would have never been issued if Bill Clinton had the opportunity to appoint just one more liberal, activist judge, like the ones Tom Daschle and Hillary Clinton are currently promoting.

These and many other court decisions are incredibly important for our country's future, touching virtually every aspect of our lives and our communities. We must work as hard as possible to ensure the judiciary is one that is respectful of - not opposed to -- our Constitution, our Founding Fathers, and mainstream America.

Barr represents Georgia's Seventh District. He serves on the House Financial Services, Judiciary, and Government Reform Committees.