Lambda Legal Asks President Bush to Stop Attacks on Judges and Courts

(New York, October 31, 2006) — In an open letter sent today, Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart asked President George W. Bush to stop undermining the role of the courts.

The New Jersey Supreme Court issued its decision in Lambda Legal’s case seeking marriage for same-sex couples, ruling that the state constitution requires that same-sex couples be provided all the rights that different-sex married couples enjoy. That very day President Bush was widely quoted saying that the country needed to be protected from activist judges, prompting Lambda Legal to send the following letter.

Text of the letter:

Dear President Bush:

On behalf of all Americans, who depend upon a fair and impartial judiciary to protect individual rights, we call on you to end your attacks on judges and courts across the country. You are undermining the credibility of a branch of government that we all rely upon to provide us with access to justice.

When courts are doing their job, they rarely please everyone. Working in a civil rights non-profit legal organization, we at Lambda Legal sometimes win cases and sometimes lose; we may dispute the reasoning of a court, but we do not question the fundamental authority of the judiciary to rule on constitutional principles. We respect the process of checks and balances, even when it does not come out in our favor. In the name of democracy, we call on you to do the same.

Last week the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the constitutional guarantees of equality and fairness apply to same-sex couples. While you may not agree with the court’s decision in Lewis v. Harris, it is your responsibility as president to respect it and the balanced system of government that produced it.

Our judicial system was not designed to appease politicians or lawyers- it was designed to uphold our laws and constitution. And every person in this country needs the courts to be fair, impartial and insulated from political intimidation. Courts are accountable to the laws and constitution. As President Reagan-appointee Justice Sandra Day O’Connor warned: “We must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary.”

Our time-tested system of checks and balances between the three branches of government is one that emerging democratic governments look to as a model. When you attack the judiciary, you are attacking the strength of our democracy. I urge you to stop disparaging our courts.

Very truly yours,

Kevin M. Cathcart
Executive Director, Lambda Legal

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Lisa Hardaway 212-809-8585 ext.266

Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.