Richard Posner Blows Whistle on Federal Judiciary

Readers note persuasively that career-changing federal appellate Judge Richard Poser blew the whistle on the federal judiciary as a whole as intellectually dishonest pols pursuing results in federal litigation.

Judge Richard Posner announced his resignation from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit earlier this month.

In an exit interview with Adam Liptak in the New York Times, Posner made comments implicitly and explicitly critical of federal judges, in response to Liptak's questions: 

'Judges are simply applying rules, and the rules come from somewhere else, like the Constitution, and the Constitution is sacred. And statutes, unless they’re unconstitutional, are sacred also.'

'A lot of the people who say that are sincere,' he said. 'That’s their conception of law. That’s fine.'

He said he had less sympathy for the second camp [of his critics]. 'There are others who are just, you know, reactionary beasts,' he said. 'They’re reactionary beasts because they want to manipulate the statutes and the Constitution in their own way.'

That judges at every level of the judiciary seek results over the law is obvious.

Judges because their actions matter to real people are a destructive and worrisome force, largely unexamined in American society, and actors whose duplicity is cringe-worthy.

Judge Richard Posner Quits Bench, Hits "Reactionary Beasts" as Unfaithful to Constitution

The sudden news this month that an intellectual is resigning from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit should cause alarm about the future of liberty claims in federal litigation.

Judge Richard Posner announced his resignation as the federal judiciary branch is populated by ever-more brazen rightwingers and politicians.

Notes Adam Liptak in the New York Times this morning in a column on Posner's resignation:

In emphasizing social utility over, say, principles of fairness and equality, he gained a reputation as a cold and calculating conservative.

That changed over time, and his recent opinions on voter ID laws, abortion, same-sex marriage and workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation have been decidedly liberal.

Liberal as in recognizing the Constitutional rights of American citizens that used to guide consideration of litigation in the federal courts.

New York Times is worth a read this morning on the career and influence of this public intellectual.

Despite the self-importance with which the federal judiciary, and most judges, conduct themselves, Posner casts most judges as anti-intellectual, especially rightwingers of whom he says, "There are others who are just, you know, reactionary beasts. They’re reactionary beasts because they want to manipulate the statutes and the Constitution in their own way."