WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has acknowledged a specific death threat against her and her retired colleague Sandra Day O'Connor, blaming lawmakers for fueling "the irrational fringe."
It should go without saying that it's a terrible thing for any public official to receive a threat of violence. But the idea that mere criticism of public officials, even including judges, should be stigmatized or prohibited in any way cuts at the heart of the ideal of free speech. Now-retired Justice O'Connor also gave a speech recently where she criticized the criticism of the judicial branch. From the California Conservative blog:
Sandra Day O’Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the [S]upreme [C]ourt, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party’s right-wingers continue to attack the judiciary.
But actually, O'Connor has it completely backwards - it's the inability to criticize government officials that's more likely to be a sign of dictatorship.
Democrats tried this tack last year, intimating that criticism of judical activism was a threat to our way of life. As we noted then, their concerns do not seem to extend to criticism of conservative judges such as Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Bill Pryor, Priscilla Owens, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, et al.
But additionally, unless one holds that judges hold some special place in our society high above that of members of the other co-equal branches of government, then the standard cannot apply merely to judges, but must be applied to all public officials. Therefore, any Democrat who holds the standard that it's out of bounds to criticize Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legal views must immediately cease any and all criticism of President George W. Bush, Vice President Cheney, and any member of the administration. Otherwise, if some lone nut in a chat room on the Internet makes a threat, God forbid, it will be on their heads.
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