Justice O'Connor: Profile of True Judicial Activism

Despite being supposedly retired, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is officially now a political activist, has decided that by sitting in on important cases is the easiest way to activate her policies quickly. From Andrew McCarthy:

The decision in the case, Gonzalez v. Arizona, was not actually rendered by Ninth Circuit judges, only one of whom agreed with it. As Ed Whelan notes in a Bench Memos post, the deciding vote was cast by the supposedly retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Justice O’Connor claims the power to sit by designation on cases in the federal appellate and district courts, despite the fact that she is now an overt political activist. Under the rules of judicial ethics, that ought to sideline her as a jurist. But of course, a politician can get a lot more accomplished wearing a robe.

Interestingly, the other judge in this controversial 2-1 decision that overturns precedent, Jedge Sandra Segal Ikuta, was a former law clerk of O'Connor's. Hmm.