Examples of how culture is spiraling toward moral anarchy thanks to out-of-control courts abounded in 2006, a distressing fact noted by the Pacific Justice Institute's Hall of Shame awards.
Brad Dacus, president of the institute, said it's the first time his California-based group has looked at judicial tyranny anywhere other than the West.
"In the past we’ve focused on the left coast because of all the things that take place on the West Coast," he told Family News in Focus. "We thought that other parts of the country deserved scrutiny as well."
Some of the items on his list even made Dacus shake his head, including a San Francisco judge blocking the enforcement of Proposition 83, which would have given children more protection against pedophiles.
The Hall of Shame also includes Congressman Mark Foley, co-chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, who was caught sending pornographic e-mails to pages; and the Washington Supreme Court, for allowing teachers unions to spend forced dues on political influence.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, saw some strange things as well, but said it was not all bad news.
"The issues that stick out to me are judicial nominations and marriage litigation," he said. "We saw continued obstruction by liberals (of President Bush's court nominees) in the Senate. We did see the confirmation of a great Supreme Court justice in Samuel Alito."
With regard to marriage litigation, he added, "it has been more successes than failures, but we still have some significant cases hanging out there."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about the Pacific Justice Institute's Hall of Shame list, visit the organization's Web site.
Also, despite the mythical status accorded the courts, judges are only humans, complete with imperfections. For that reason alone, we must not abdicate all authority to the judiciary. Men in Black examines some of the outrageous recent court decisions and provides a blueprint for action for those who oppose judicial tyranny.
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