Michael S. Greco
President, American Bar Association.
Articles by this Author
Popular Dissatisfaction With Judicial Restraint—Do Americans Really Want an Independent Judiciary?
- By Michael S. Greco
- Published 10/7/2007
- Volume 82, Special Issue
To begin addressing the central question at
hand, I believe that Americans do
want an independent judiciary, although many may not know it. My statement
reflects the fact that many Americans are of two minds about the judiciary. Several
national public opinion surveys conducted by the American Bar Association, the
National Center for State Courts, and the Justice at Stake campaign, as well as
other state-specific surveys, show that Americans want judges who are free from
political influence.However, at the same time, many people favor
judicial decisions that reflect their political preferences and values, and
many express a desire to hold judges more directly accountable to the public.The root cause of these conflicting and malleable attitudes towards the
judiciary, I believe, is a fundamental lack of knowledge. Too many Americans
are uneducated about our system of government, and particularly about the
constitutionally prescribed roles and responsibilities of the judicial branch. . . . [for full article click the PDF below]
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