In short, a bench of conservative judges deemed that antitrust regulations should be applied even to software.

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It underscores the need for judges on the bench to be diverse in terms of their gender, race and life experiences.

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"We do not require government employees to anticipate future developments in constitutional law, " said the three judges, all of whom were named to the bench by Republican presidents.

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Bhagwati Prasad, the chief justice of Jharkhand state until retiring from the bench in 2011, said that judges, like anyone, are influenced by their social conditioning.

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It would be a great irony if conservatives, who rail against judges who legislate from the bench, have installed a judicial activist of their own on a federal appellate court.

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Other judges may prefer dispensing traditional justice from the comfortable distance of the bench.

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Two judges sitting in London, Sir John Thomas (President of the Queen's Bench Division) and Mr Justice Silber, are hearing the accusations.

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"We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don't legislate from the bench, " the Arizona senator said.

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There are four vacancies on that bench -- more than any of the 13 federal appeals courts -- and much of the debate on Halligan was whether the court's caseload was enough to justify filling the bench with more judges.

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