that means by judges. judges do adjudication. in that same article professor liu argued once there is a welfare program, it is the role of the courts -- he said the courts to grasp the community meaning and purpose of that welfare benefit in light of the needs of equality and national citizenship. professor liu explicitly stated that, when necessary, courts should recognize or expand these welfare rights by -- quote -- "invalidating statutory eligibility requirements" -- this is his language that he quo -- quote -- "by invalidating statutory eligibility requirements" -- that means welfare -- or strengthening against benefits. well, congress withdrew and altered benefits with the welfare reform act in the late 1990's. president clinton eventually signed it and the judge -- does the judge think that the courts ought to strike that down? apparently so. in other words, professor liu believes that judges have right, and, indeed, the duty to rewrite laws written by congress when they think those laws are inadequate or when the judge, w

-iffords was shot in arizona a federal udge. >> judge rolls. >> .judge rools was killed.ctually a moment there when people wondered whether the gunman was in fact targeting the judge. not that his death was incidental but that was the deliberate decision he made. and in fact federal judges have been targeted before. judges of all levels have been targeted. >> absolutely. >> i-i wonder from your verr particular perspective, if you can talk about that. it, it seems incredible to -e that people would consider the work of judges to be soocontroversial that they would take.violent acts would be their way of expressing it. what, what do you think about that? >> well, i mean, it does happen and we have security measures that we've put in3 place. actually one of the worst tragedies recently happened in my own courthouse where one of my colleagues on the district court went home one day to discover her mother and her husband murdered. >> yes. >> .innthe basement of her house. >> yes. >> and his was a deranged litigant who, she had dismissed his case some weekssbefore. and explaine

our common and the judges in dept. 43 j judge bauer -- unlike judge bauer common the judges in department 43 are borden. there is no one to make objections or advocate for the people who go to these courtrooms, because they have never had them there. there is no lawyers, so what happens is i go into the courtroom, and i hide behind a broad-shouldered deputy so the judge does not recognize me, and i listen and watch. the judge comes in, and everybody rises, and the judge goes through the speech she gives to the defendants who have been waiting all weekend in many cases to get out because they are there for public intoxication or failure to appear for a warrant, so they have been picked up on the weekend. i will exaggerate. she comes up and goes, you are here charge, and you have the right to go to counsel. i will do the deal for you right now, and if you want a public defender, you can get a public defender. let's go. then what happened is a long line of guilties. guilty, guilty, guilty -- incontinent -- not guilty. no continent. guilty, guilty, guilty. i am an amateur, but even i am sayin

because judges -- we can't vote for judges. judges are -- once appointed, they serve senator a lifetime. -- they serve for a lifetime. in return for that lifetime appointment and protection from sort of accountability that otherlet elected officials are required to -- other elected officials are required to have, we understand, our constitution provides that they have a limited but important role. that is to apply the law as written to apply the words of the constitution as written, and not to sort of make it up as you go along, or to dream up new rights alongelong the way, that aren't subject to a vote of the american people or subject to an election. so, based upon nearly everything that mr. liu, professor liu has written or said, i have some very serious concerns about his impartiality and his suitability to serve as a life tenure judge. my concerns start with his lack of judicial temperament. during the confirmation hearings of justice -- now justice sam alito on the united states supreme court, mr. liu went out of his way

this is not the duty of judges. the judiciary is limited to deciding cases and controversy, not establishing public policy. i would note further that this view of constitutional interpretation does not rely on the acts of the legislative or on the precedents established by higher courts. rather, it is based on a concept of what he prefers to call -- quote, unquote -- evolving norms. furthermore, as he testified before the committee, it is those evolving norms to which inform the supreme court's elaboration of constitutional doctrine. mr. liu tried to sound like a mainstream skwraoufrt when he -- jurist when he stated the duty of a circuit judge was to faithfully follow the supreme court's instructions on matter of constitutional interpretation. now who's going to argue with that? but again, that sounds nice, doesn't it, but what does it mean? if we accept his premise that the supreme court's instructions are based upon evolving norms, it follows that such evolving norms will shape the circuit court's decision as wel

he is now a judge and a darned good judge. as a coalition of northern californian asian-american bar associations wrote, chen has made a successful transition from a zealous advocate to a balanced and conscientious adjudicator who is committed to the impartial and active administration of justice. former federal prosecutors from the northern district of california made the same point. they wrote, "judge chen consistently treats all sides evenly and impartially and conducts himself with the utmost propriety, as is fitting for a judge. while we are aware of his previous position as a staff attorney at the aclu in northern california ten years ago or more, judge chen does not show favoritism toward the parties or issues before him." the record is available. the evidence is in. chen understands the unique role of the impartial adjudicator. he knows what it means to decide cases evenhandedly and he has been doing it for ten years. let me turn to some speeches that the search engine turned up. since 2009, "the washington times" and

he'll have to judge a fellow judge and might be tough to say that he had that conflict. >> i was going to ask that. how are the courts likely to look on this? it seems there's an institutional bias on the part of the court, not to overrule another judge on whether or not he thinks he that he has a conflict. >> that's right. i think the odds are against a judge saying anything like that, but that said perhaps this is aimed at the big bench in washington where it's ultimately headed. it's in the ninth circuit on the merits of judge walker's ruling and it could be they're trying to lobby the supreme court in advance that besides everything else in the case we had a biased judge. they've already overruled judge walker on the question of televising the trial. this could just be intended to send a message. >> belva: let's just say judge walker ended up in that position because of the lottery effect. >> which he did. >> belva: on a computer. now we have judge james weir who's an african-american. he also ended up in that same position because of that, is that how -- >> he is succeeding judge

people are clapping and the judge is pounding on the gavel. the judge says all right. all right. there is a lot of interest here. we're going to take 15-minute break and we're going to come back and i'll figure out what to do. 15 minutes later, by the way in the break everybody is coming up to steve and they are like, you know, shaking his hand and begging him to represent them. so, so, so she comes back and puts up on a microphone and for the rest of the day everybody could hear but i went back to that court the next day and steve was gone and so was the microphone. i went back to the court for weeks on end for the next five years because i wrote a whole chapter about this community and there was never another microphone and there was always that huddle. that huddle is what my book is about. it is about people who work in the system who become more attached to each other than they are to the jobs that they are supposed to be doing. and what they do is they lose a sense of what it is that is important and who it is that they are supposed to be protecting and instead, the justice

that the judge was a district court judge in rhode island who made it through. he survived the filibuster. their votes are there for goodwin liu to survive this test. he needs 60 votes. everyone says that it is going to be close. there are some republicans this certainly will not filibuster him, even if they did not support his nomination. are there enough of those republicans will not vote to block him and the way that some democrats blocked nominees of george w. bush? >> david in grump -- ingram, thank you for that update. >> thursday, on "washington journal," tom davis talks about the current gop presidential field. the consumer product safety commission on the top safety initiatives and programs. assesses -- discusses border security issues. "washington journal" is live at 7:00 eastern on c-span. tonight, a news briefing the defense secretary robert gates. a debate between the candidates for the special congressional election and the 26 district of new york. new york.

judges? and i've come to the conclusion that being stellar, being a great teacher and professor, being a wonderful judge is not enough. and i really take the words to heart that my colleague said because we all make mistakes. his comments on judge alito and judge roberts he said were poor judgment, he shouldn't have done it. there's not anybody in this body that hasn't done the same thing. so we can't hold that against him, and i don't. but what i -- what i do think matters is whether or not the oath to the constitution and our laws and our treaties and the foundational documents of our constitution do matter. and i believe that where we find ourselves today as a country, not having the debate on the senate floor as we should be having the debates on the senate floor is partially a blame because of where the judges have put us. that they haven't been loyal to the document, they've expanded the commerce clause well beyond its ever anywhere close intent in the general welfare clause that now fi

judges? and i have come to the conclusion that dean's stellar and being a great teacher and professor, being a wonderful judge is not enough. and i really think -- take the words to heart that my colleague said because we all make ali mistakes. hisnd comments on judge alito ad roberts he said were poor thi judgment. thing there is not anybody in this body that hasn't been the same thing so we can can't hold that against him. but what i do think matters is whether or not the oath to the constitution and our laws, and our treaties and the our foundational documents of our constitution matter. and i believe that where we the define ourselves as a country,or not having to debate on the senate floor as we should be having the debates on the senate floor, is partially to blame because of where the judges have puts us.th that they have not been loyal to the document. they have expanded the commerce clauseth well beyond it's anywhe close intent in the general welfare clause that now finds us at a tim

tell us that story. >> this is a story of a judge in upstate new york, and he is a judge in a place called troy, new york, which has historically been a beautiful day. -- beautiful town. he got the idea he wanted to help clean up troy. if you walk the streets with hank bauer, he is a celebrity. people are hanging out their windows, do you need an umbrella? he is that type of guy. i told him i was writing a book called "ordinary in justice," and you are one of the main characters, and he would pick up the phone, and i could hear him smiling, because in his heart of hearts -- he has been kicked off the bench by the new york state judicial commission, but he drew the things he has done nothing wrong, -- he truly it sinks he has done nothing wrong, and when they told him -- he truly thinks he has done nothing wrong. when they told him he did things like not reading people their rights, not assigning an attorney, and pleading someone guilty without him even being in the room -- he looked at the charges commo, and he said, very serious. how does the have the reflection of himself as a good judge

people who are incompetent, it's an extreme decision by the judge. judges are reluctant to find that. you have to be pretty far gone. and in those rare cases, the question is can the medical professionals make him competent for trial. >> woodruff: laurie levenson, we thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> brown: finally tonight, tales of escape from north korea. it's from our occasional series: "the economist film project." showcasing independently- produced documentaries that bring us things we don't ordinarily see. the films are chosen jointly by the "newshour" and "the economist" magazine. here's an excerpt from "kimjongilia" by film-maker n.c. heikin. she took an artistic approach to illustrating some harrowing stories. >> north korean propaganda films paint a blissful picture of life under kim jong il. but those we met who'd escaped from north korea in the last decade paint a very different picture. kang chol hwan remembers a happy childhood. >> ( translated ): my childhood was happy. i had five or six aquariums with all kinds of fish. we kids

to us judges are convicted over dishing out dodgy discipline and making millions by storing teenagers into private prisons for only very minor offenses. and in business is our exploration of russia's of oil and gas which is back on track with shell nothing like it or price b.p. in the deal bring the full story in twenty minutes time. well why do you use it from the center of moscow this is a party a paradise for the french really historic world war two side today sees an invasion of the g. eight machine the latest summit that's going in the normandy resort off the field it's going to be starting very very soon and i think he said now and she's there for us with the latest the first day it's certainly been set up as a day for the leaders to meet on the sidelines face to face and really get down to the issues in a frank and open discussions and that has already happened there's been many meetings already throughout the day in the summit just begun but the strongest statement so far interestingly enough has come from herman van rompuy in a briefing here of course is the president of the

between lecturing and judging. he knows that the role of a judge is not to advocate but to follow and obey the dictates of the constitution and the precedents of our supreme court. goodwin liu will obey the law. we can and should ask no more of our nominees. if we take a step back from the current heated partisan rhetoric, i think we can find broad agreement across the aisle that a judicial candidate ought to be evaluated according to his legal ability and experience, his standing within the legal profession, his integrity and his temperament. professor liu rates extraordinarily highly in all of these areas. his academic and professional qualifications demonstrate he is a lawyer of the utmost ability with a broad range of experience. he was a rhodes scholar. he got his law degree from yale university where he was the editor of the yale law journal. he clerked for one of the great intellects of the d.c. circuit judge david tatell and after that clerked for justice ginsburg on the united states supreme court. since t

go about judging. the they would apply the law, especially the constitution.omen the debate about judicial philosophy really comes down ton this the real question is what the constitution means.ay be in the mean of its words properly may be found. the debate is about who gets the cotituti final say in what theple constitution means. the people are the judges.ica'ds america's founders cle carly top the people side in this debate.i and it's farewell address inn sd 1796 george washington said the very basis of ouras politicalple system is the people control the constitution. he said until the people change obligatory above all. that certainly includes, inmariy fact -- that primarily includes government because i it was -- t was the constitution thato existed you to those in power and limit government. the constitution cannot limit government if it cannot permit th judges. the it cannot limit judges if they control what the constitution means in accordance with their own predilections and values. the const

it was an partiality for the attorneys so this judge rating in opinion for the judge. i would expect this in the soviet union during wouldn't expectant here. additionally, judge carper wrote the letter that came to enter his chambers and in his final rulings he called for the plaintiff's attorney for the consideration and to have access to those letters and have a hearing to provide my part of the story. my livelihood was affected, my provisions of the state bar were affected because the judge included in his order letters sent to him directly to his chamber and had no opportunity to respond to read this of the discussion and for all of those reasons, and i'm running out of time, this has to be the decision has to be overturned and i should get my right for the judgment and the discovery of the documents [inaudible] more information. >> thank you very much. >> may i please the court? the appearance of my counsel assistant u.s. attorney and of myself representing president obama and the other federal defendant. this is a limit to the matter before the courts -- >> where

to us judges are convicted of dishing out dodgy discipline making millions by throwing teenagers into private prisons for only very minor offenses. and hot stuff in subzero seas in our leaders and hard to grieve for the needs of the creatures calling the icy ocean home. in business new e.u. rules could hold up progress for gazprom south stream project will bring you the full story in business and around twenty minutes time. as one pm the russian capital you're watching r.t.i. marina joshie at least two deaths and dozens hospitalized for casters in georgia have found out the hard way why they shouldn't speak out against their leadership police showed little restraint in a crackdown on crowds who turned out for what's been called georgia's day of rage demanding that president saakashvili resign sarah ferguson is gauging the mood into the sea for our team. well certainly this morning after the scenes of violence that we saw break out last night as the police violently dispersed the crowd of protesters extremely quick for the police to break up that cloud we saw a lot of arrests being mad

in wisconsin just to judge sunni's ruling was very very clear and very very small d. democratic government i suspect there's at least a possibility that even some conservative justices might go along with that we all need to remember earl warren for example were appointed as i recall by eisenhower you know a good conservative republican or did the koch daddy and the john birch society hate him and what's the latest. you have what's the latest on the wisconsin recall . there's a lot going on through the recalls have been sort of fight these are efforts to remove republican state senators who align themselves with the walker agenda and three. key votes came from republicans who represent districts they could very easily elect a democrat i know those cases that recalls have been certified they're going to go ahead three more recalls republican senators are now in play and likely to go ahead and usually there are three potential recalls of democratic senators those are still being what it all adds up to is the likelihood that on july twelfth or thereabouts we will have el

that's the judge in the case.auss-kahn, now the ex-head of the international monetary fund, the imf, dealing with charges now, he has officially been indicted on charges that he sexually assaulted allegedly sexually assaulted a maid in a hotel room in new york. now he says he is innocence. but we are seeing this play out. we have a reporter, some of our crew, in that courtroom giving us some reporting from what's happening inside. but he is trying right now to get out of jail. he's been held at rikers island. he's trying to get out of there. he's offered up $1 million of his own money, turned in his passport, but still the prosecutor saying this man has international connects and he is a flight risk. this is video from inside. we don't have a live picture but we'll be checking back in with our reporters. they had a brief recess, i believe they just reconvened but the judge could decide today whether or not dominique strauss-kahn is out on bail while the process, the legal process, moves forward. we'll be checking

also, you have to be independent of the judges. we found they were intimately involved in selecting the people who would appear before them. we found 90% of public defenders reported judicial pressure to expedite cases. that means when you are under one staff -- understaffed and overworked, the judge says, you have enough time. we need to move things along. this train that has to be speeding -- i think that is a real problem. judges are implicit when public defender offices are not given the resources to do an adequate investigation, so i think those are big problems we see. >> you raise an interesting point about whether a public defender should be elected or appointed. let me ask you this. you are appointed common and and i saw when you made your case -- you are appointed, and i saw when you made your case, they basically accuse you of mismanagement common and and they pointed the finger at year- end said, you have a $300,000 deficit. -- at you and said, you have a $300,000 deficit. i am curious to know, because you are appointed

and the senate has always thought of district judges differently. district judges are trial judges. circuit judges also must follow precedent but have broader discretion in interpreting and implying the law. circuit judges' jurisdictions are broader. their attitudes an philosophies are much more consequential. that's why the senate has never allowed a federal district court nomination to fail by denying cloture. according to the congressional research service in the history of the senate -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. mr. alexander: i ask for an additional minute. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. alexander: congress the research -- congressional research service only three clotures have been filed on district judge nominations in each case the nomination was eventually confirmed. i wish that president obama had nominated someone other than mr. mcconnell. during his confirmation hearings questions arose about a possible role in stolen corporate documents and other questions. it was even said that he's the only district judge

and a boom time for private prisons in the united states but some judges are making a financial killing by throwing teenagers behind bars for the most minor offenses. a very warm welcome t.v. this is r.t. live from moscow the u.s. and russia need a missile defense system able to meet both countries' security technologies and it could happen by twenty twenty that's what russian president dmitri medvedev said after meeting with the u.s. president barack obama both in the french town of to feel for a g eight summit any so now we can bring us the latest live from the summit and. so missile defense it's a sensitive issue between if your country's history of ongoing for months now a moscow insisting that both parties must work in unison on this so they are now any closer to finding a solution. but missile defense has always been a tough issue for the u.s. and russia and from both presidents today what they said during their briefing to the press after they met face to face was basically that they are going to work together but they don't think that any kind of solution will be able to be reac

it was held by the opposition is the day that we did turn in judges teacher instead this approach has ended ousting president saakashvili engine by lens and large. peach pools of riot police moved in on the crowd just minutes after midnight on judge's day of independence. then she should let police seems to be right to fight everyone on the clapham familiar shun them a bit we've got to leave that in the back and we've got one on the other side to be done to say to the surrounded as the police closed in water cannons were fired into the crowd rubber bullets and gas all eight seriously injuring demonstrators and journalists a police officer was killed when he was run over by a car. protested in front of the parliament building the scenes of violence all the more shocking given that many of those involved were of an older generation. or we were standing peacefully when riot police keep me on to the ground and started beating me my relatives also suffered they smashed one of my friend's face and left another one on mobile to stay. you can see from my face the kind of force they used and i