“If you tune into any national political debate these days, you are likely to be subjected to a tiresome dialogue regarding the types of judges that should be nominated and approved to sit on the federal bench. Republican candidates invariably promise to nominate ’strict constructionist’ judges who … ’so they claim’ … will exercise judicial restraint and interpret the Constitution according to its originally intended meaning. ‘Strict constructionists’ are said to be distinguishable from ‘activist judges’ who ‘legislate from the bench’ or ‘constitutionalize’ their own political views. The Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade is said to exemplify such ‘judicial activism.’” (01/01/08)