![Ashcroft condemns "activist judges"](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] Speaking to the Federalist Society annual national conference on Friday, US Attorney General John Ashcroft denounced a trend towards activist judges who are second-guessing presidential determinations. Ashcroft, in his first remarks since announcing his resignation earlier this week, stated that federal judges are jeopardizing national security by issuing rulings contradictory to President Bush's decisions regarding America's obligations under international treaties and agreements. AP has more. Earlier this year, a divided Supreme Court held that the president lacks the authority to hold "enemy combatant" terror suspects indefinitely and without access to lawyers; this week, a federal judge stopped proceedings for a trial before a US military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.