Per Governor Palin’s ridiculously over-stylized Twitter page:
Vetted judge candidates today from Anch Office, 3 more judges to be announced soon to begin work for AKns interpretting law, not making law
More "teenager on MySpace," and less "politician on Twitter"
Clearly, Palin’s trying to play to that old culture war canard about dangerous “liberal activist judges” making rather than interpreting (“interpretting”?) law. The only thing is, that issue doesn’t really have any bearing on the types of judges she’s appointing. Per her press release, Palin appointed one judge to a state trial court (Fairbanks District Court), and two to state intermediate courts (Fairbanks & Palmer “Superior” Court). Typically, when we talk about judges “making” law, we talk about federal appellate judges (e.g., 2nd Circuit), who, because of the discretionary nature of certiorari review, are often the final word on matters of federal law, and Supreme Court justices, who are always the final word on federal law.
However, the Alaska court system provides for appeals from Superior Court judgments as a matter of right. Accordingly, a Superior Court judge will never have the ability to conclusively “say what the law is,” nor, obviously, would a trial court judge. Conservatives are allowed to worry about “judicial activism,” but the types of appointments she’s made just don’t even present that concern.
So, once more, we’re left with the perception that Sarah Palin is little more than a machine for the generation of talking points. On one point, then, I do agree with her: her departure probably is “best for AK progress.”
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