Newt Gingrich takes his fight to the bench

Newt Gingrich does not like judges.

That’s the message the former House speaker sent to attendees at the Values Voter Summit on Friday afternoon.

Gingrich delivered his speech after three other Republican presidential candidates – former Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and retired pizza chain executive Herman Cain – made their pitch to the gathering of social conservatives. Gingrich’s performance, however, felt more like a law school lecture than an appeal for the nomination.

“Now, I wanted to come today to talk about a historic crisis that only indirectly relates to the president,” Gingrich said. “I think we are facing one of the great crossroads of American life.... If judges think they are unchallengeable, they are inevitably corrupted.

“The courts, I think, have become virtually out of touch with reality,” he said before rattling off a list of suggestions for reining in their power.

“The Congress should pass a law repudiating every interference of courts in national security issues,” he said. “On abortion, the courts are wavering all over the place.... They don’t know what they’re doing.”

Gingrich has had his sights trained on the courts for some time. Last year, his speech at the Values Voter Summit also focused on the judicial system as he warned of the intrusion of Islamic sharia law in American courts.

kim.geiger@latimes.com