We have all witnessed judges being excoriated in the tabloids and by strident public figures for grossly unpopular decisions. The judges are most often silent—not responding to their critics. They leave their courthouses at night-time or through backdoor corridors, some hiding their faces like criminals behind newspapers to avoid the paparazzi.
These judges may simply be thick-skinned. Or, more likely, they have decided that—even in the face of one-sided, and often uninformed, public condemnation—they must sit on their hands in silence. No response from them and “no comment” from their staff. These judges refuse comment when asked for interviews by journalists because they believe that, as judges, the unwarranted attacks must go unanswered by them given the canons of judicial propriety. This, even though executive and legislative officials are not only “ethically” free to publicly criticize others, they seem to actually relish doing so as Election Day approaches.
