Abolish 9th Circuit, Gingrich Tells Dobson
By PAUL ASAY THE GAZETTE
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, called for replacing the judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in an appearance on Focus on the Family’s daily radio program Thursday.
“The Ninth Circuit is so consistently wrong, it is so consistently radical, it is such a violation of the spirit of American history, that we’d be better off if we simply abolished it,” he told the program’s host, James Dobson.
Gingrich advocated reconstituting the court with different judges. Because federal judges are appointed for life, such a move would require impeachment of the Ninth Circuit judges.
The Ninth Circuit has long rankled conservatives with its controversial rulings, which include declaring unconstitutional the addition of the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
During the program, Dobson cited another decision that he said allows public schools to “operate independently” of parents.
“That’s the kind of stuff this crazy court does, isn’t it?” Dobson said.
“This would be a completely reasonable court in France,” Gingrich said. “It makes no sense as a court in the United States.”
Gingrich, who authored the Republicans’ Contract With America and parlayed it into the GOP takeover of the House of Representatives in 1994, resigned from Congress in 1998 after being reprimanded by the House on ethics charges.
Gingrich’s visit to Focus, coming after publication of his book, “Rediscovering God in America,” appears to be part of an effort to mend fences with social conservatives, who grumbled when Gingrich was in power that he did not sufficiently champion their causes.
Gingrich will be on Dobson’s program again today, and a Focus news release said he will be talking about radical Islam.
Focus on the Family’s radio broadcast is aired locally several times a day on KGFT (100.7 FM), KCBR (1040 AM) and KTLF (90.5 FM).
It’s also available online at www.oneplace.com/Ministries/ Focus_on_the_Family.
(c) 2007 Gazette, The; Colorado Springs, Colo.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.