I’ve been saying for years that conservatives are dishonest when they claim to disdain judicial activism.
And now George Will, of all people, is SAYING THE SAME THING.
UPDATE: Sen. Patrick Leahy SAYS the current Supreme Court is the “most activist in my lifetime.”
There appears to be multiple interpretations of “activism” by various politicians.
As George Will pointed out, conservatives generally prefer the court to defer to the elected political branches of government. HOWEVER, what he probably should have also said is that above all else, conservatives believe in Originalism. Meaning that in some recent decisions the Supreme Court felt it necessary to uphold the the original intent of Constitutionals laws over laws proposed by other government branches.
Liberals generally believe in a living Constitution in which laws can be interpreted differently based upon current societal factors. Meaning that a certain laws original intent may not apply today. Or possibly new issues today now supersede the laws original intent. It is this new, or activist, interpretation, that Conservatives generally don’t like.
So while the court may have been recently “more active” (as Leahy points out) in terms of upholding Originalsm theory, the court has not been “activist.” So yes, Conservatives do disdain judicial activism.