passivists

Conservatives insist that their heroes - Justices Rehnquist, Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito - are judicial "passivists," rather than judicial "activists," who "strictly construe the Constitution," do not substitute their own views for those of the Framers, and generally defer to the judgments of the democratically-elected branches of the government.

Geoffrey R. Stone: Sonia Sotomayor and the Hypocrisy of "Conservative" Critics 2009

In an earlier post ( "Supreme Imbalance: Of Liberals and Conservatives"), I argued that there are four types of Justices: liberals, passivists, originalists, and conservative activists.

Geoffrey R. Stone: Supreme Imbalance: Conservative Activism on the Supreme Court 2008

Swedish architects Kjellgren Kaminsky are modern ‘passivists’, recently unveiling plans for the Ulricehamn Visitors Center in Southern Sweden which will maximize natural climate control, productivity, and wellbeing with a passive energy design strategy.

Swedish Museum Sets the Passive Energy Standard | Inhabitat 2008

Unlike "liberal" Justices, they do not ask whether the law at issue infringes the underlying purpose of a particular constitutional provision; and unlike conservative passivists, they do not uphold every law that has a reasonable justification.

Geoffrey R. Stone: Supreme Imbalance: Of Liberals and Conservatives 2008

McCain also seems stunningly unaware that the Justices he simplistically lauds as "judicial passivists" are nothing of the sort.

Geoffrey R. Stone: McCain's Justice 2008

At their best, such judicial passivists are principled, even-handed, and neutral in their reluctance to invoke the power of judicial review.

Geoffrey R. Stone: Supreme Imbalance: Of Liberals and Conservatives 2008

I should note, by the way, that judicial passivists do not necessarily reach politically "conservative" results.

Geoffrey R. Stone: Supreme Imbalance: Of Liberals and Conservatives 2008

By evading their duty to enforce the Constitution in a meaningful manner, judicial passivists betray a central feature of our constitutional system.

Geoffrey R. Stone: Supreme Imbalance: Why Judicial Passivism is Wrong 2008

On some issues, such as the constitutionality of affirmative action, campaign finance regulation, regulations of the market, and regulations of commercial advertising, principled passivists will reach results that are politically liberal.

Geoffrey R. Stone: Supreme Imbalance: Of Liberals and Conservatives 2008

In the new American paradigm, pacifists are the enemy, and passivists are the real heroes, realizing their ultimate purpose as inert, impotent consumers, who contribute nothing but judgment on those who refuse such a fate.

Get a Life 2007