Thursday, July 23, 2009

Moving in the Right Direction

The courts, that is.

The always valuable magazine published by the American Judicature Society comes to the conclusion that "his judicial legacy may well be Bush's most enduring accomplishment," as one article puts it.

Through 59 confirmed appointments to appeals courts, 261 to the district courts and two to the Supreme Court, "They definitely achieved the goal of moving the federal bench in a conservative direction," says longtime Judicature editor David Richert...

As for the Supreme Court, Sweet Briar College political scientist Barbara Perry argues that Bush appointees John Roberts Jr. and Samuel Alito Jr. have produced opinions that reflect "a conservative agenda that reaches back to the conservatism of Ronald Reagan." She cautions that "several terms on the nation's highest court do not a legacy make," but still concludes that in several doctrinal areas, the two "have pushed the high court to the more conservative position."

It's a good start but could take many years to bear fruit.