We are in tumultuous times. Whether right or wrong, the consequences of the political changes being made are profound. Some view these changes as making long overdue improvements to our nation and introducing needed innovation and efficiency. Others view them as gutting their constitutionally protected rights or the social contract they have entered into, and have lived by, as a result of previously adopted laws. Many of the changes have found their way to the courts. More will surely follow. Our rule of law will be tested yet again.
Unfortunately, we have already seen public officials accusing judges hearing these legal challenges of being corrupt and threatening to impeach judges who have not ruled in their favor as a means of intimidation. Some public officials have also suggested they will ignore, if not openly defy, rulings of the courts with which they disagree. In his 2024 Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Justice Roberts identified intimidation and defiance as threats to the independence of judges, independence that, as Chief Justice Rehnquist described, is “one of the crown jewels of our system of government” and “probably the most significant contribution the United States has made to the art of government.”
An independent judiciary, free from political intimidation and the defiance of its rulings is, in Justice Ginsberg’s words, “essential to the rule of law” which “can be shattered if the society law exists to serve does not take care to assure its preservation.” Change happens with every election; it is a constant. So too is the need for an independent judiciary, guided only by the rule of law. Our system of government simply does not work without it. As lawyers, we cannot remain silent when our courts are under attack. As loudly as we may speak in support of a particular political position, we must speak even more loudly in defense of the independence of the judge who must adjudge the legality of that position. To not do so is to be complicit in the dismantling of the checks and balances that undergirds our system of government. So speak, whenever and wherever you can. Defend judicial independence; defend the rule of law. That is our calling.