Word: avoiding
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...disenfranchising the people through judicial activism," exulted the President in a speech to federal prosecutors in Washington last week. To end years of what he called "political action or social experimentation" from the bench, Reagan favors judges who follow the so-called doctrine of original intent, under which courts avoid rulings not clearly envisioned by the framers of the Constitution. In recent weeks Attorney General Edwin Meese has put signposts on these principles by attacking some pivotal Supreme Court decisions, including the Miranda ruling that police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning. "Miranda only helps guilty defendants," Meese...
Administration officials admit that they have been indulging at least one prejudice. "There is a conscious attempt," says Rees, "to avoid appointing people who will be on the bench only a few years." Typically, too, appointees are male and white. Only four of Reagan's judges are black, eleven Hispanic, and 22 female. The long-term impact of younger white male appointments is troubling to liberal activists like Elaine Jones of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "They will just be hitting their stride in 15 years," she says. "In any question that pits the rights of the individual...
...long been Reagan's style to avoid cluttering his mind with the complexities of a subject. In many ways this contributes to the boldness of his vision, but his blurry collection of ideas and hearsay details can also present problems. In a presummit interview with the BBC, for example, Reagan remarked there was no Russian word for freedom. There is: svoboda. Similarly, Reagan seemed to tell five Soviet journalists that his nuclear defense project would not be deployed before all offensive nuclear missiles on both sides were dismantled. Spokesman Larry Speakes gently categorized the statement to the Washington Post...
...eruption had been closely monitored. The volcano began to send up plumes of smoke more than a year ago. On two occasions last September, the mountain spat out showers of rock and ash, eventually causing authorities to issue warnings to the surrounding population while quietly preparing contingency plans to avoid a calamity. Maps plotting the likely course of last week's disaster had been completed only four or five weeks ago. But the next steps had not been taken. Said Darrell Herd, deputy chief of the Reston, Va.-based Office of Earthquakes, Volcanos and Engineering at the U.S. Geological Survey...
...Mariquita for a second visit to the devastated zone, he encountered just such a scene. Said a local witness: "People were crying desperately, seeking out refuge in places that were more secure, while a vehicle with a loudspeaker rolled through the streets urging them to evacuate in order to avoid another Armero." Betancur struggled to restore calm. "Please, please, no more unfounded rumors," he exhorted. "We cannot be overcome by panic...