Of course judges are political actors, that's not a bad thing

Every time there's a controversial judicial decision, we get an outpouring of aggrieved commentators declaring that the decision was political and therefore illegitimate, and a corresponding set of responses that courts are not political actors but neutral interpreters of law, usually from people happy with the decision. Both of these groups are wrong. Courts are political actors, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The idea that judges aren't political actors strikes me as plain bizarre. These are people empowered under law with the discretion to make decisions that have public policy outcomes.1 No different than the elected officials, the appointed officials, or the civil servants. If the legal discretion to determine the length of time a human has to remain in prison isn't a political decision, then you have a different definition of political than me.2 To say nothing of the ability to strike down a piece of statutory law as unconstitutional. What is true is that judges…