January 14, 2015|9:31 am

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, gives remarks at the Heritage Foundation's Conservative Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, January 13, 2015.

WASHINGTON United States Senator Rand Paul stated that "judicial activism" can be a force of good in American politics.

At an event sponsored by the conservative group the Heritage Action for America, the outspoken libertarian-leaning Republican told those gathered Tuesday morning that judicial activism can play a positive role in public policy.

"There is a role for the Supreme Court to mete out justice. The Fourteenth Amendment gives the Supreme Court, gives the federal government a role in saying the states can't do certain things," said Sen. Paul.

"I think the federal government was right to overturn state governments that were saying that 'separate but equal' was fine'."

Paul believes that the conservative position that judicial restraint was intrinsically beneficial was wrong given the need for decisions to combat state-level wrongs like Jim Crow legislation.

"If you're for judicial restraint, I guess then what happens when a legislature does bad things?" asked Paul to an audience that has often expressed support for restraint over activism.

"What happens when a legislature says 'well, we're going to pass Jim Crow laws' should we have an activist court that comes in and overturns that?"

(Photo: The Christian Post)

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Rand Paul: Judicial Activism Can be a Good Thing