Three Judges on the Future of Judicial Independence
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Ninth Circuit Judge Pamela Rymer, and Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court Ronald George took part in a panel discussion on "The Role of Politics and the Rule of Law: Judicial Independence in the 21st Century." Topics covered were wide-ranging and included the Newdow pledge case and Bush v. Gore.
Justice George highlighted that the judiciary is the branch of government most vulnerable to retaliation from the others. Justice Breyer noted the problem posed by the election of judges. He also observed that it's very difficult to establish a process that sorts out judicial "bad apples" without threatening independence generally; he added that America's system does a decent job. Judge Rymer criticized her colleagues on the Ninth Circuit for seeing their primary role as promoting social justice, claiming that that leads to instability and unpredictability over time.
The panel was sponsored by Stanford Law School and moderated by its dean, Larry Kramer. A streaming video of the event is available, as are press accounts.