As the debt-ceiling debacle shows, Americans are genuinely frightened that our ever-expanding federal government will spend us into national collapse.  But while Americans are delivering a message of limited government to Congress and the President, proponents of small government have actually been sending a completely different message to the judiciary for decades.  That message—that any judge who strikes down a bad law is an “activist”—has been destructive to freedom and conducive to runaway growth in government.

Americans have always believed more in the power of individuals and the free market than in government power.  For example, ABC News and The Washington Times have been asking people the same question since 1984:  Do you favor smaller government and fewer services, or larger government and more services?  The results show a consistent national preference for smaller government.  In 1984, 49 percent of respondents favored smaller government while 40 percent favored larger government.  Today it is 56 percent versus 40 percent.

The American commitment to limited government is embodied in our Constitution.  The Founders were distrustful of government power and they wanted to limit government’s interference in our lives.  Largely ignored in today’s debate over limited government, however, is the role that our courts should play in keeping the government in check.

Our courts are a constitutionally co-equal branch of government.  The Founders spent considerable time debating the best way to ensure judicial independence so that the judiciary could temper overly ambitious presidents and legislatures.

A Constitution that says “no” to government requires judges who are willing to say “no” to government, too.   Yet when judges actually strike down a law as unconstitutional, they are frequently derided as “activists” by people who ordinarily think of themselves as advocates for smaller government.

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Showing complete disregard for the free speech rights of small business owners, the City of Dallas bans businesses from putting commercial signs in the upper two-thirds of any window or glass door, and on more than 15 percent of any window or glass door. Only ineffective signs are allowed by the government: tiny signs placed at people’s feet. The law also bans signs that cover more than 25 percent of a building’s façade. Failure to take down the signs means you are at risk to be hit with a fine up to $2,000.

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