{"id":165,"date":"2009-05-01T13:39:13","date_gmt":"2009-05-01T13:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/05\/from-graduation-to-supreme-cou.html"},"modified":"2009-05-01T13:39:13","modified_gmt":"2009-05-01T13:39:13","slug":"from-graduation-to-supreme-cou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2009\/05\/from-graduation-to-supreme-cou.html","title":{"rendered":"From Graduation, to Supreme Court Vacancy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry, the big news, of course, is the reported retirement <\/a>of Supreme Court Justice David Souter.  <\/span>The news comes just 102 days into the Obama Administration and sets the stage for President Obama to move to put his liberal stamp on the federal judiciary in a big way.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font>More about that in a moment, but wanted to answer your question from your last post about our graduation case out of California about the student we’re representing who was told she could not perform a tap dance number because the song mentions “God.”  <\/span>The song, in fact, is My One Thing by Rich Mullins <\/a>– and the song simply reflects the student’s personal religious experience.  <\/span>The fact is that the song is not proselytizing and reflects the student’s relationship with God and its importance to her.  <\/span>And, Barry, that is protected by the First Amendment.<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Speaking of the Constitution, President Obama is certainly going to select a Supreme Court nominee to replace the retiring Justice Souter who will be liberal by all accounts.  <\/span>The question is – does this really shift the balance on the high court?   <\/span>With Souter often siding with the liberal wing of the Court, some would argue that President Obama is merely replacing a liberal-leaning Justice with another.<\/font><\/p>\n

In an interview<\/a> this morning I indicated my belief that there’s much more at stake here and that President Obama can certainly set the tone for future appointments (including additional Supreme Court opportunities) with who he selects to replace Justice Souter.  <\/span>And, it’s no surprise that many of the top candidates are extremely liberal – and have a judicial philosophy that’s much more to the Left than Justice Souter.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Let’s not forget what President Obama has said in the past.<\/font><\/p>\n

In explaining his vote against [the confirmation of Chief Justice] Roberts, Obama opined that deciding the “truly difficult” cases requires resort to “one’s deepest values, one’s core concerns, one’s broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one’s empathy.” In short, “the critical ingredient is supplied by what is in the judge’s heart.” <\/font><\/p>\n

How about what’s in the Constitution?  <\/span>If that isn’t judicial activism, I don’t know what is.<\/font><\/p>\n

I suspect we’ll learn more soon about who President Obama wants to nominate to the nation’s highest court.  <\/span>But there’s one thing we already know – the replacement of Justice Souter marks the beginning of President Obama’s legal legacy – a legacy that will move this country dramatically to the Left.<\/font><\/p>\n

To subscribe to “Lynn v. Sekulow” click <\/font>here<\/font><\/a>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry, the big news, of course, is the reported retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter.  The news comes just 102 days into the Obama Administration and sets the stage for President Obama to move to put his liberal stamp on the federal judiciary in a big way.  More about that in a moment, but wanted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,11,4,5,69,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-first-amendment","category-public-schools","category-religious-freedom","category-separation-of-church-and-state","category-supreme-court","category-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Graduation, to Supreme Court Vacancy - Lynn v. 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Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.  As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.  In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.  In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.  And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.  Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.  The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.  In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.  Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"  Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.  In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).  He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).  The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.  Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.  Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.  He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.  Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.  In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}