Activist Judge: a judge who believes in the law.
Strict Constructionist: a judge who believes that George W. Bush is the king
Bush may believe the latter, but five judges disagree:
Five federal judges gave a boost Tuesday to legislation that would bring court scrutiny to the Bush administration's domestic spying program.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing chaired by Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., the judges reacted favorably to his proposal that would require the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to conduct regular reviews of the four-year-old program.
The existence of the warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency was revealed by The New York Times three months ago.
The judges stressed that they were not offering their views on the NSA operation, which they said they knew nothing about.
But they said the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has operated capably for 28 years and is fully able to protect civil liberties and give the administration all the speed and flexibility it needs to execute the war on terror.
The administration contends the president has inherent war powers under the Constitution to order eavesdropping without warrants.
"I am very wary of inherent authority" claimed by presidents, testified U.S. Magistrate Judge Allan Kornblum. "It sounds very much like King George."
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