Sessions speaking Wednesday afternoon about role of judiciary

Published 3:27 pm Wednesday, June 17, 2009

If you’re watching C-Span right now, you’re liable to see Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., giving a speech about the proper role of a federal judge.

Sessions’ office released a media advisory Wednesday afternoon, saying this is the first in a series of speeches that will address the issue of the role of a federal judge and, “make the case for judicial restraint over judicial activism.”

Sessions is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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He also plans to talk about President Obama’s empathy standard and the dangers of judicial policy making.

From Wednesday’s speech:

“…our Founders established a court system that was independent, impartial, and restrained and that, through a faithful rendering of the Constitution, serves as an indispensable check against the intrusion of government on the rights of man as endowed by our Creator…

“…Unfortunately, there is an increasing movement which seeks to redefine the court and to shift the balance and separation of federal power. This movement believes that judges have the authority to impose their political will on the populace, to alter the meaning of the Constitution, and to allow personal and political considerations to enter into their judgments…