Jurisprudence: Needles and Threats

More tough talk about pulverizing the judiciary.

By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Tuesday, April 5, 2005, at 2:03 PM PT

Yesterday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn took the floor and announced that judges who make politically based decisions may inadvertently bring violence upon themselves. While pounding away at the Supreme Court's recent decision in Roper v. Simmons, he took the time to issue-amid the qualifiers and caveats of Senate-speak-the following threat:

I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. ... And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters, on some occasions, where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in, engage in violence.