Mitt Romney On The Supreme Court

Hugh Hewitt posts a statement from Mitt Romney on how he would fill future Supreme Court openings. Here's an excerpt:

The First Monday in October marks the beginning of the U.S. Supreme Court term. Cases in the upcoming term could dramatically impact the everyday lives of all Americans. The Court will face questions involving the death penalty, voter identification as a means of ensuring fair elections, efforts to stop child pornography, whether terrorists held as enemy combatants deserve special rights, and perhaps even our right to keep and bear arms. That is why it is important that we nominate justices in the strict constructionist mold of Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas.

Today reminds us that a judge’s most solemn obligation is to the 'rule of law,' a phraseology of which I am particularly fond since it comes from the original Massachusetts constitution of 1780. It reminds us that those appointed to the federal bench must leave behind their partisan passions and retain only one: the passion for 'equal justice under law.' Respect and fidelity to the rule of law and equal justice under law must guide the judicial mind and, in fact, they are required by the oath all federal judges must take.

Those holding themselves out for the Presidency have an equally solemn obligation: to find women and men for judicial service who respect the rule of law and who will be faithful to the law as enacted. As President, I intend to nominate judges who respect the separation of powers, are committed to judicial restraint, and have a genuine appreciation of the text, structure, and history of our Constitution. The judges I nominate will recognize, as I do, that as Justice Scalia once said, the Court ought not take the field as some kind of 'junior-varsity Congress.'

Hewitt also points out that the next President will likely have a major say in the Supreme Court, as there are six Justices over the age of 67, so openings are very likely to occur.

Remember, elections have consequences, and this is one of the big ones! If you want an activist judiciary, re-writing the law on the fly, vote Democrat; if you want an originalist judiciary, upholding the original intent of the law, vote Republican. Romney's got his head straight on this one.

There's my two cents.