Originally posted by: Fern
Children's Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel reportedly told Sage and a recruiter that she didn't approve of the Iraq war, didn't trust recruiters and didn't support the military.
There are several good arguments posted here about why it may be good idea for the student to enlist, or why it is NOT a good idea. But apparently none of these were used by the judge.
See the above quote regarding the judge's remarks. The student is not allowed to join, not for any reason that has to do with his interests, but because the judge HERSELF doesn't like the military etc.
She's using the student as a club to whack the military, in a sense.
IMO, that's a piss poor reason for a judge to use as a basis for such a decision - I (very big "I" capital letter here) don't like the military, the war etc. I would argue the same if the judge allowed him to join because she DID like the war. That simply is not relevant to the case at hand.
The decision should be based upon the bests interests of the student, not a judge's highly personal likes or dislikes that have nothing whatsoever to do with the student.
BTW: Right at the begining of the article they note that the student had a long standing desire to be in the miliary. Contrary to many posters here, the movie FMJ was not the cause of that desire, he had only recently seen it.
I think the judge's admission as to the reason for her decision clearly establishes this as an example of judicial activism. It is not , howver, legislating from the bench, it's practicing activism.
Fortunely, it is a relatively inconsequential example with no long lasting effects nor does it set precidence.
Fern