As for DeLay’s father, he was stricken during the period of Texas’ “Natural Death Act” of 1977, which required that physicians perform any and all lifesaving measures unless:
1. Two physicians (one who must be the primary care physician) must agree that the condition is terminal and death would be imminent without lifesaving measures, and…
2. The patient’s guardian elects to withold lifesaving measures.
And in that case, they did it, and I do not fault the DeLay family for their decision whatsoever.

Lucky for me, the new Advance Directives Act of 1999 (signed by then-Gov. Bush) allows my wife to pull my plug if the docs concur that my condition is expected to be terminal within six months. While that is not something I look forward to, it gives me peace of mind that I won’t be a burden and I’ll be allowed to move on with my existence.

So, Dan, you feel Roe vs Wade should be overturned? That was a state matter. I happen to agree with you.

DeLay’s father was on a ventilator, kidney dialysis, had organ failure, and was expected to die shortly. Terri just needed food.

As for Judge Moore, he has in the past let his personal beliefs influence his rulings and courtroom behavior. When running for the Alabama Supreme Ct., one of his campaign promises was to take his courtroom plaque of the Commandments with him. In Feb 2002, he ruled against a woman retaining custody of her three children for the sole reason that she was/is a lesbian. In the opinion which he drafted, he quoted verses from Genesis and Leviticus, as well as citing the death penalty as punishment for homosexuality. Here’s a quote from Moore’s own opinion:

“The State carries the power of the sword, that is, the power to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution. It must use that power to prevent the subversion of children toward this lifestyle, to not encourage a criminal lifestyle.”

After losing his Nov 2002 legal battle to keep the monument in the courthouse rotunda, he said:

“Federal district courts have no jurisdiction or authority to prohibit the acknowledgment of God that is specifically recognized in the Constitution of Alabama.”

To me, Judge Moore seems “activist” enough when his personal beliefs lead him to flaunt the very laws he was sworn to uphold. It definitely calls into question his impartiality.

Micheal:
The constitution and its drafters could not forsee everything, as evidenced by the amendments to cover things like abolition of slavery, speedy trial, self-incrimination, cruel & unusual punishment, removal of race as a factor in voting, and women’s suffrage. Each of those things had to be added after the fact to improve the civil rights standing of the U.S.

As for topics like gay marriage and abortion, I personally feel those should be left up to the states themselves since they are not directly covered in the constitution or current set of amendments. (Amendment #10!)

As for the Terri Schiavo situation, it galled me that Congress intervened in a state matter. It seemed doubly irritating that Tom DeLay wanted to intercede on Schiavo’s behalf when DeLay himself agreed to withhold kidney dialysis from his own father who had suffered brain damage in a construction accident.

Roy Moore can’t be considered an activist because he didn’t make any rulings regarding the monument. Sure, it was still something he wanted to do regardless of laws, but he didn’t pass any rulings about it.

The federal judges that “struck down segregation and enforced unpopular civil rights” can’t be considered activists either because of that one key word before “unpopular civil rights”. They were enforcing laws that already existed, and therefore were not creating their own.

This is not to say republicans can’t have their own activists same as the democrats, but they tend to not be as rampant or as numerous as the democratic activists.

Was Alabama’s Judge Roy Moore an activist judge for installing a monument to Commandments on the courthouse lawn in the middle of the night? Could the federal judges that struck down segregation and enforced unpopular civil rights laws be considered activist?

I strongly suspect that we hang “activist” moniker on whatever jurist fails to rule in concert with our personal opinion(s).

Would that be the Republican elite or the Democratic elite?

http://capwiz.com/sicminc/issues/alert/?alertid=7351686&type=ME

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/4/emw226586.htm

My account, etc. of Terri Schindler’s Funeral Mass:

http://tekgnosis.typepad.com

I read the links you sent, enough to know that there are both similarities and differences. The baby was on life support and suffered a fatal illness and not expected to live anyway. Still, my initial response is that the parents should have been given some way to care for their baby since that’s what they wished.