McAtee Contra Sandlin On Judges & Politics

“As incredible as it might seem in our present climate, a judge’s political views should have no bearing whatever in assessing his jurisprudential competence. A highly qualified flaming leftist Democrat would serve just as effectively as highly qualified flaming rightist Republican. If you find this observation disconcerting, let me remind you that the job of justices is to interpret the law, nothing more: procedural justice, not consequential justice. As long as judicial philosophy is sound, political views should be irrelevant. It is the intrusion of politics into court decisions that gave us our present debacle.”

Andrew Sandlin
2017

BLMc responded,

I find this altogether unwise.

This is a classic example of compartmentalized thinking that so plagues the West today. One cannot separate out juridical philosophy from political philosophy which is each grounded in theology. Sandlin seems to be arguing for a type of neutral application of the law that all men can agree upon regardless of their worldview.

It’s just boneheaded to the core and in defiance of everything that Sandlin ever said he held as a presuppositionalist.

Also, while one can distinguish procedural justice from consequentialist justice one cannot divorce them. No Judge is interpreting the law that does not have consequentialist implications.

Politics are always involved in court decisions. It is naive to suggest it could ever be otherwise.

Author: jetbrane

I am a Pastor of a small Church in Mid-Michigan who delights in my family, my congregation and my calling. I am postmillennial in my eschatology. Paedo-Calvinist Covenantal in my Christianity Reformed in my Soteriology Presuppositional in my apologetics Familialist in my family theology Agrarian in my regional community social order belief Christianity creates culture and so Christendom in my national social order belief Mythic-Poetic / Grammatical Historical in my Hermeneutic Pre-modern, Medieval, & Feudal before Enlightenment, modernity, & postmodern Reconstructionist / Theonomic in my Worldview One part paleo-conservative / one part micro Libertarian in my politics Systematic and Biblical theology need one another but Systematics has pride of place Some of my favorite authors, Augustine, Turretin, Calvin, Tolkien, Chesterton, Nock, Tozer, Dabney, Bavinck, Wodehouse, Rushdoony, Bahnsen, Schaeffer, C. Van Til, H. Van Til, G. H. Clark, C. Dawson, H. Berman, R. Nash, C. G. Singer, R. Kipling, G. North, J. Edwards, S. Foote, F. Hayek, O. Guiness, J. Witte, M. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Mencken, Lasch, Postman, Gatto, T. Boston, Thomas Brooks, Terry Brooks, C. Hodge, J. Calhoun, Llyod-Jones, T. Sowell, A. McClaren, M. Muggeridge, C. F. H. Henry, F. Swarz, M. Henry, G. Marten, P. Schaff, T. S. Elliott, K. Van Hoozer, K. Gentry, etc. My passion is to write in such a way that the Lord Christ might be pleased. It is my hope that people will be challenged to reconsider what are considered the givens of the current culture. Your biggest help to me dear reader will be to often remind me that God is Sovereign and that all that is, is because it pleases him.

2 thoughts on “McAtee Contra Sandlin On Judges & Politics”

  1. I love what Dr. Gregg Singer say’s. That today’s judges/lawyers are more trained as Sociologists / Psychology that they are in law, because if the law reveals the character of God, manifests the nature of God and expresses the nature of God, the we understand why centuries ago one had to have a degree in theology as a prerequisite for a law degree. Today law is nothing more that the opinions of sociologists and psychologists and godless humanism.

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