(CNSNews.com) — Florida Governor Jeb Bush has appointed
to the state Supreme Court a judge who strongly believes in judicial restraint,
a conservative philosophy which holds that judges should interpret the law as it
was written, not as they would have written it. Circuit Judge Kenneth Bell, 46,
of Pensacola, replaces retiring Justice Leander Shaw, 72, who is stepping down
next week after 20 years on the state’s highest court. The Miami Herald reported
that earlier this year Bell had a website promoting his candidacy for the high
court, on which he stated: “Unless absolutely necessary, the courts must
recognize their role as the ‘weakest branch of government’ and pay due deference
to the legislative and executive branches.” Florida Republicans have accused the
Supreme Court’s liberal judges of stepping on the role of the Legislature in
broadly interpreting the law and creating new ones to suit their political
ideologies and agendas. “I don’t believe in activism of the court, either from
the left or the right,” Bell said. His appointment Monday was the second Bush
has made to the Supreme Court. [Full Story]
I also believe in judicial restraint, I think that most of the judges we
currently have should be bound in restraints.
