"Impeach Earl Warren:" 
The Warren Court's Legacy Fifty Years Later, Part I.

By Virginia C. Armstrong, Ph.D., 
National Chairman, Eagle Forum's Court Watch 

In 1953, newly-elected President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren to be the Chief Justice of the United States. This nomination proved to be the first shot fired in a judicial/constitutional revolution which continues today. The Warren Court (1953-1969) fueled the Culture War into an inferno and then placed the federal judiciary squarely in the white-hot center of the conflagration, a critical position that the courts still occupy. 

This year of 2003 is the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Warren Court revolution. Surely there could be no better observance of this history-changing event than the launching of a counter-revolution to reclaim America's courts and the Constitution from the constitutional black hole into which the Warren Court first plunged us. In order to mount a counter-revolution, we must "arm ourselves with the power that knowledge gives," as James Madison exhorted us. Our most essential ammunition is a correct understanding of the courts, the Constitution, and the Culture War. 

We begin by developing the proper perspective on the relationship between our Constitution and "precedents" in constitutional law. This issue is of vital importance for several reasons, one being its immense significance in the current battle over President Bush's federal judicial nominations. 

• The principle of precedent, moored in the English Common Law tradition, requires that current disputes be decided in accordance with past decisions made in similar cases. But America, unlike Britain, has always had a single, written, supreme organic law-our Constitution. The U. S. Constitution is the ultimate precedent in America-the ultimate standard against which all law must be measured, including decisions of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. A genuine judicial restraintist understands this fundamental fact and the necessity of evaluating current court decisions, even ones of long-standing ("settled law"), in the light of the Constitution properly interpreted. Precedents violative of the Constitution should be thrown out. 

• Indeed, recent Courts have thrown out a number of precedents. Between 1953 and 1998, the Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist Courts over-turned 127 previous Court decisions. "Precedent" obviously has been no barrier to recent Supreme Court decision-making. 

Constitutional/judicial policies which are not based on these facts and similar facts move America farther in the dangerous direction of becoming a system of judicial supremacy, not constitutional supremacy. In Part II. of this study, we shall arm ourselves with additional knowledge with which to dismantle the Warren Court's legacy. 

For a more detailed analysis of this issue, visit our Court Watch website.
http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2003/feb03/02-21-03Brief.shtml

Hear Dr. Virginia Armstrong discuss this and other issues with Tim Wildmon and Marvin Sanders of American Family Radio on "Today's Issues." The show will air on Thurs., March 6th at 10:00 a.m. CT. 

Learn more about these issues and many others by visiting the Blackstone Institute online. Consult the "Blackstone Bibliography" for a variety of exciting materials with which can further arm ourselves to reclaim our courts and our Constitution. http://www.blackstoneinstitute.org/


copyright 2003 by V. C. Armstrong 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National Chairman: Virginia Armstrong, Ph.D.E-mail: vcaphd@juno.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read this Alert online:
http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2003/feb03/02-21-03Brief.shtml