Constitutional Protections of Judicial Independence

1
Constitutional Protections of Judicial
Independence

• Tenure during good behavior
• No reductions in salary
• Removal only for high Crimes and Misdemeanors

2
The Elected Branches and the Judiciary

• President Appoints judges, with advice and
  consent of the Senate
• Congress
• Establishes lower courts
• Determines the size of the Supreme Court
• Determines much of the jurisdiction of the
  federal courts

3
Constitutional Debates The Federalists

• Courts enforce the will of the people embodied in
  the Constitution
• Judicial independence protects minority rights
• Courts have no coercive power

4
Constitutional Debates The Anti-Federalists

• Federal courts would have unprecedented
  independence
• Impeachment the only means of removing judges
• Courts would have control over Congress

5
Courts and the Rise of Political Parties
Federalists

• Prosecution of administration critics
• Federal judges strictly enforced the Sedition Act
• New courts diminished states authority

6
Courts and the Rise of Political Parties
Republicans

• Abolished the circuit courts and new judgeships
• Impeached judges accused of partisanship
• Asserted congressional control over courts

7
Critics of Federal Judicial Authority

• Jefferson Fixed terms for judges
• Calls to limit federal review of state court
  decisions
• Defense of state jurisdiction over many cases

8
Reconstruction and the Federal Courts

• Fears of a pro-Southern Supreme Court
• Limiting jurisdiction over congressional acts
• Reliance on courts to establish federal authority

9
The Courts in an Industrial Economy

• Court injunctions against strikers
• Court protection of private economic rights
• Supreme Court rejection of economic regulation

10
Popular Reform Proposals

• Election of judges
• Limited terms of office
• Jurisdiction stripping
• Limits on judicial review

11
FDRs Court-Packing Plan

• Alleged court delays resulting from elderly
  judges
• Need for judges with modern experience
• Authority to add new judges to all federal courts

12
The Defense of the Judiciary

• Invasion of judicial power
• Democratic opposition to Roosevelt
• Progressives feared executive power grab
• Popular opposition to the plan

13
Persistence of Attacks on Judicial Independence

• Proposed structural changes in response to
  specific decisions
• Jurisdiction stripping
• Challenges to judicial tenure

14
Institutional Independence

• Judicial Conference of the U.S. Courts
• Administrative, educational, and research support
  for the courts
• Self regulation of the judiciary

15
Public Trust in the Judiciary

• Taft Judges responsibility to ensure public
  faith
• Failure of attempts to limit judicial
  independence
• Resistance to wholesale reorganization of the
  courts