Fair Courts: The Threat to Judicial Independence in Polarized Times
Thu, Oct 03
|Northern California Grantmakers
Judicial independence may be the most consequential — though least visible and discussed — long-term threat to a well-functioning American democracy. Partisan political climate in the U.S. has emboldened lawmakers to undermine the role of an independent judiciary by mounting unprecedented assault...
Time & Location
Oct 03, 2019, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Northern California Grantmakers, 160 Spear St #360, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
About
Co-sponsored by: American Constitution Society | Bay Area Democracy Funders’ | California ChangeLawyers | Legal Services Funders Network
Judicial independence may be the most consequential — though least visible and discussed — long-term threat to a well-functioning American democracy. The partisan political climate in the U.S. has emboldened lawmakers to undermine the role of an independent judiciary by mounting unprecedented assaults at the strate and federal levels.
We’ve heard the attacks: The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is “hostile” and “in chaos” for rulings on immigration and other issues; a U.S.-born Latino judge is labeled a “Mexican” and biased, and much more.
“People uttering those [disparagements] are doing damage, short-term and long-term, to courts, to the rule of law,” California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye told the San Francisco Chronicle recently.
The damage has spread to at least 22 states which have considered legislation that would diminish the role or independence of the courts,…