Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Does the court recognize the "free excercise thereof" when deciding cases involving religion and the establishment clause

David Limbaugh:

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton's decision that a California "school district's policy and practice of teacher-led recitation of the Pledge violates the Establishment Clause," provides a timely illustration of judicial activism at work.

Just to be clear, I'm not here accusing Judge Karlton himself of activism. He determined that he is required by the previous holding of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Newdow case to enjoin the district from the practice.

He ruled that while the Supreme Court reversed the 9th Circuit in Newdow, it did so on technical grounds ("standing") and its substantive holding (forbidding the teacher-led Pledge) still stands. I suspect it may later be determined that Judge Karlton is way off in his legal analysis, but if he is correct, then he was not engaging in judicial activism by following binding precedent (again, assuming it is binding) from a superior court.

This case, however, does highlight the judicial activism of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court in their Establishment Clause jurisprudence.

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If the Court had, through the years, construed the Establishment Clause in accordance with the original understanding of the Framers, these pledge cases -- and similar cases -- would never have gotten off the ground.

The Establishment Clause was designed to prohibit the Establishment of a national religion or a national church. It was not intended to erect a "wall of separation" between church and state, nor prohibit all endorsements of religion by the federal government. And it was emphatically not intended to force government to be neutral between theism and atheism.

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The Establishment Clause, like the Free Exercise Clause, was supposed to guarantee, not restrict religious freedom. But the Supreme Court, in its activist distortions, has largely turned the clause into a weapon against religion liberties, and lower courts have followed suit, and worse.

The judges decision was a gift to the Republicans just as Judge Roberts is coming up for a vote. No Democrats will defend this statement in any national forum.