Evan Wolfson, an attorney at the forefront of the fight for LGBT civil rights, has published an excellent article on the legitimate role of courts in protecting fundamental constitutional rights. Wolfson notes that:
"Attacks on judges and courts have been a staple of right-wing anti-civil-rights, anti-choice, anti-equality campaigns for decades now. Last year we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision overturning laws in many states requiring racial segregation. What followed Brown, however, was not unanimous applause, but rather a concerted wave of political attacks, including members of Congress signing resolutions denouncing 'activist judges' and politicians across the country denouncing the courts for doing their job. These political attacks have ratcheted up over the past few decades in opposition to decisions upholding women's reproductive freedom, gay and non-gay people's personal autonomy, and America's precious separation of church and state."
