‘Twisted Logic’ on the Justices
Prof. Michael Wald’s major complaint is with the California Constitution. It allows voters to reject Supreme Court justices. Obviously such a judgment is political; it cannot help but be. The question is, By what principle should the people judge a judge? The answer, equally obvious, is fidelity to the Constitution of the United States, to the California Constitution, and to federal and state laws. The issue is not party but performance.
When judges of the court can be shown to have substituted their private views for the Constitution and the laws, the people should remove them.
The question facing California voters is whether Chief Justice Bird has favored her private opinion of capital punishment, say, rather than the view of that subject settled in the federal and state constitutions and in relevant public laws consistent with these constitutions. If she has, she should not have her term of office extended. No one should be reluctant to hold her to that political test or to vote against her should she fail it.
WILLIAM E. JOHNSTON JR.
Woodland Hills
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