Reply #1: I read that article earlier today.

[Igel]

And I didn't like it.

I'm not sure I agree that most conservatives would say that an activist judge legislates by striking down laws. Most may include that in their examples, or even in their definitions. But it's not the striking down of laws per se that I think most conservatives would point to.

I think most would say "activist" judges legislate by either extending laws to cover what the laws' authors didn't intend by or finding "new rights" or legal principles that legislators must take into account.