Much has been written this year about the crisis in judicial independence. Is another voice needed? Yes — in fact, many more.
From the time our modern Supreme Court was constituted under the leadership of Arthur Vanderbilt as its first chief justice, the court has been a beacon for its unique, nonpartisan composition and its far-sighted decision-making. Its balanced political makeup repeatedly has been honored during the past half-century, notwithstanding that justices were political appointees. Yet, the court has been remarkably free of the “politics as usual” that marked the judiciary in other states, particularly those with ugly judicial elections.
