Judicial activism is the tendency to interpret the Constitution or law in a way that goes beyond the original authors' intent, in order to influence public policy. Activism can be either conservative or liberal: Conservative activism tends to narrow the scope of interpretation to restrict government or individual rights; liberal activism tends to broaden the scope of interpretation to expand individual rights in keeping with progressive social norms.
Martin Garbus, in his book Courting Disaster: The Supreme Court and the Unmaking of American Laws, claims the Marshall Court, New Deal Court, Warren Court and Rehnquist Court all made decisions that had their basis in political agendas, rather than laws.
Often, charges of judicial activism mean the Court or justice has made a decision with which the accuser disagrees. Therefore, progressives accuse conservatives of being judicial activists when they interpret the Constitution to support conservative political ideologies; conservatives accuse progressives of being judicial activists when they interpret the Constitution to support progressive political ideologies.
Conversely, when a Court upholds an earlier precedent under the doctrine of stare decisis, or refuses to declare a challenged act of Congress unconstitutional, or otherwise upholds the status quo, they are said to be practicing judicial restraint.
The debate between judicial activism and judicial restraint tends to reveal as much about the opinions of the person making the accusation as the tendencies of the Court.
Commonly Cited Examples of Judicial Activism
Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137 (1803)
Dred Scott v. Sanford, 60 US 393 (1857)
Lochner v. New York, 198 US 45 (1905)
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 483 (1954)
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 US 479 (1965)
Loving v. Virginia, 388 US 1 (1967)
Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973)
A+LS: A justice allows his or her personal opinions to influence a decision
i was looking for this answer and couldn't find it... sorry :/
period of activism?
Judicial, legislative, executive
What are the judicial branch views on affirmative actions?
Harlem
Judicial Activism
Judicial activism weakens the separation of powers by involving the Court in what are traditionally executive and legislative functions. Judicial restraint reinforces separation of powers.
The main types of contrasting judicial philosophies include judicial activism versus. Versus strict constructionism, and living document versus original intent.
To hell with Pakistan and you...
judicial activism!
judicial restraintFor more information, see Related Questions, below.
for its period of Judicial Activism
Judicial activism was used because the Court ruled that the school policy prohibiting the students from wearing the arm bands to protest symbolically the Vietnam War violated the students' free speech rights. By overturning a policy of the government (the public school's policy), the Court exercised judicial activism.
A person who favors judicial activism is one who prefers a decision to be made via a personal opinion, rather than focusing on the law. A person who does this is considered unlawful or a federalist.
Judicial restraint is the theory that judges should limit their exercise of power and strike down laws only when they are obviously unconstitutional, and always follow precedents set by older courts. Judicial activism is the opposite view, and is sometimes meant to imply politically motivated judicial decisions.
The Warren Court, which was active from 1953 until Chief Justice Earl Warren retired in 1969, is often accused of judicial activism for its many decisions supporting African-Americans' civil rights. Whether they believed they were judicial activists or not is unknown.
Neither. The court simply ruled that people need to be advised of rights they had always been entitled to. --- Activism, because the Court invented a new rule. They used their power broadly to further justice instead of just allowing the decisions of the other branches of government to stand. It's true that their rights were already there, but that's not the determining factor of Judicial activism/restraint.