Anonymous Supreme Court Decisions?
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I have an idea for dealing with with the problematic issue of how to depoliticized the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.
For some time the Supreme Court has been seen nine individual judges who are classified as either conservative or liberal (with the odd swinging judge). Republican Presidents appoint conservative judges, while Democrat Presidents appoint liberal minded judges. The expectation being that a judge is likely to adopt a stance similar to the President and a majority of the Senate being willing to support the President’s choice (and their political views).
Supreme Court decisions are analysed closely to determine the leanings displayed by each judge in their written opinions (judgments).
And here, I finally reach my suggestion. What if Supreme Court decisions were anonymous? The Chief Justice would retain the power to disclose any proven misbehaviour or incapacity by a judge that would warrant consideration of removal from the Bench. The value of the anonymity would be that the final legal decisions in the US would be seen as being made by the Court. If any decisions were not unanimous, those in the minority could still anonymously write a dissenting judgment/s. Alternative judicial opinions are very valuable to the future development of the law, with some dissenting opinions becoming majority decisions later.
Crucial decisions as to the validity of government actions and laws, and important decisions about individual rights should not be decided by individuals publicly assessed on their stances. Instead, it should be the Court that makes such rulings – a Court appointed by Presidents and Senators over a lengthy period of time – a Court whose Justices should not be assessed on their adherence to the political views of those appointing them, but free to act impartially according to their understanding of the law. I believe that with such scrutiny removed from individual judges, they would consciously or even unconsciously move from the pressures and expectations of being political appointees to those of being independent and impartial judges of the highest court in the United States of America.
What of accountability? The Court is not there to reflect public sentiments. The Court is independent – an independence greatly emphasised by the Constitution – an independence undermined by expectations that judges will make decisions in line with the views of the politicians who appoint them.
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