Independence of the Judiciary Model Speech Outline Outline I. The Founders of our nation designed a constitutional democracy based on a system of checks and balances A. Now the model for the world, especially for new democracies B. Recognize the genius behind the system 1. Gives the three different functions of creating, enforcing and interpreting laws to three different branches of government 2. Provides checks and balances between them. II. You can't have checks and balances without an independent judiciary A. Ensures each person his or her individual liberties, and prevents a tyranny of the majority. B. Judges make the Constitution work for all of us. C. Examples of judges protecting the minority and powerless 1. Voting rights 2. Desegregation 3. Consumers against monopolies III. What is a judge's job? A. Resolve disputes impartially B. Apply/interpret the law C. Make sure people receive fair treatment IV. Politically motivated threats to judges A. Prevent judges from acting as required B. Undermine public support and understanding of justice system V. Removal was intended to be difficult, not to be based on disagreement with the judgment an official is required to use to perform the job. A. House of Representatives has voted to impeach only 13 federal judges B. Only seven have been convicted in a trial before the Senate and removed from office. C. No federal judge has ever been removed from office because Congress disagreed with the judge's judicial philosophy or with a particular decision. D. State judges subject to discipline/removal for unethical/illegal conduct VI. Removal based on disagreements over judicial decisions would interject chaos into our court system. A. Judges would be subjected to the vagaries of shifting political currents. B. Decisions and opinions would be dissected into sound bites and campaign commercials C. Justice system based on resolution of facts and analysis of law in deliberative process, not a political process D. Accountability through better understanding and knowledge not campaigns of misinformation and innuendo VII. Imagine: A. living in a country where the judge felt obligated to call his or her local political leader before passing judgment. 1. Should your fate be subject to the political climate? 2. Telephone justice is just what the people in China and other tyrannies live under... and what the emerging democracies are working to retreat from. VIII. Independence doesn't mean lack of accountability -- the system has accountability in the right ways. A. Selection process B. Decisions can be appealed. C. Discipline and peer review D. Removal for cause E. Legislature can change the law F. Executive can change enforcement procedure IX. Frustrations with the justice system must be in context A. Most cases resolved as intended 1. 100 million cases per year B. Judgments about whole system should not be based on few high profile cases 1. Most of 100 million cases per year are resolved without difficulty C. Courts protect and defend if allowed to function fairly and impartially 1. Citizens 2. Free enterprise system 3. Individual liberties X. Work to improve through understanding A. Media must ensure facts right B. Misinformation and innuendo must be minimized XI. Conclusion A. American courts are model for the world B. Maintain fair and impartial courts as essential to American governance Speech Ideas/Talking Points Home | Independence of the Judiciary Home Tips on Volunteering Home