It’s really easy to blame efforts to erode the independence of our courts exclusively on shrill politicians or the fragmented news media. Legislators seek to curtail the authority of the courts by cutting their budgets or packing the court, while special interest groups spend millions on television ads in judicial…
Though I understand that the policy of the American Bar Association has long been to favor some form of merit selection, I would like to speak in favor of elections. While the faults of such elections have been catalogued, I have seen their strengths. A word of background. Years ago,…
It was 1936, and America was suffering through the throes of the Great Depression. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had just been re-elected in a landslide. The Democrats controlled the Congress with wide majorities in the House and Senate. Led by the Roosevelt administration, the Congress had enacted an array of…
After voters elected Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in November 2016, the Republican North Carolina General Assembly quickly passed laws that drastically limited the powers of the executive branch. The outgoing Republican governor signed the bills, which have been challenged in court, along with other laws passed since then. As the…
Ensuring that the judiciary is able to act fairly and impartially without fear of reprisal has been a matter of great public concern since America’s founding. The American Bar Association is and must continue to be a strong, national voice in defense of fair courts, independent judges, and separation of…
Judicial independence. Some have pointed out that a remarkable feature of the principle is how few words it takes to enunciate it, and how many years it takes to understand and implement it. Others speak reverently about the principle while referencing phrases such as “separation of powers” and “rule of…
Judicial independence is a bedrock principle of the rule of law. For America, that principle is grounded in Article III of the Constitution, which provides for an independent judiciary, and in Marbury v. Madison (1803), which established that the judiciary has the “province and duty … to say what the…
Did you over wonder why the Founding Fathers, in writing the preamble to our Constitution, chose to use the words “establish justice” right up front in speaking to the formation of our “more perfect Union?” Well, I guess it was to stress how important the rule of law would be…
For most Americans of almost any age, education or sensibility, the phrase "judicial independence" sounds a fully necessary note in the middle of our traditional chorus about democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. How can you have justice unless courts and judges are fully independent of the political, financial…
On behalf of the ABA Standing Committee on the American Judicial System and the ABA Journal, we are pleased to initiate a collection of essays on the broad subject of “Judicial Independence” for Journal readers and the general public. Over the next several months, we will publish thoughtful pieces written…
These thoughtful essays delve into fairness, impartiality, access to justice and adherence to the rule of law. Judges and lawyers reflect on the American judicial system, its status in the world and its willingness to address faults honestly.
