Then There Was Nine Essays - United States Courts Of Appeals, Law

Then There Was Nine Housed between the Library of Congress and the Capitol stands the home of United States Supreme Court which is described as "the greatest tribunal in the world, one of the three great elements of our national government." Jeffrey Toobin's book "The Nine" takes an intimate view behind the curtain of the United States Supreme Court and the Judges that are chosen to rule on the law of the land. The following looks into Toobin's definitions of judicial activism, restraint, and independence, how his bias tends to affect his independent analysis of the justices, and what kind of philosophy I would adopt if I were a judge. Judicial activism is defined as court rulings that are made based more on the personal and or political views of the judge or judges presiding over the present case. It is also an attempt in the judicial ruling to rewrite legislation based on the political ideology of the magistrate. The courts have been set up to settle the disputes based on the law while using specifically defined powers. Some may believe that "constitutional law had taken some profoundly wrong turns and they were not shy about demanding that the courts take the lead in restoring the rightful order."(p. 17) Judicial activism can manifest itself as a judge that is basically legislating from the bench. Judicial restraint is characterized more as judges using self-discipline to limit their views whether personal or political when deciding a case. It is the duty of the justices to use constraint when ruling against laws if they truly find that there is evidence that it is truly unconstitutional. The justices must not infuse their beliefs whether personal or political when considering at a case. They must not make laws but interpret them based strictly on constitutional grounds and direct interpretation of the law. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor believed and fought for judicial independence. She stated, "it is the kernel of the rule of law, giving the citizenry confidence that the laws will be fairly and equally applied. (p.291) This "independence" allowed decisions to be made despite interests from the other government branches. This notion is keeping the judiciary branch from being influenced by the other branches, thus maintains the separation of powers. The court justices are appointed; therefore they do not have to worry about reelection for their position. Their tenure is for life, so they do not have to worry about being "politically correct' in their decisions, they must just abide by the Constitution. The President of the United States nominates his judicial candidates based on how they align with his beliefs. This does not necessarily ensure that the justice, once approved, will rule along the same belief as the president. Take for instance Sandra Day O'Connor; she was nominated by the conservative President Ronald Reagan. In her first abortion case, she voted to "uphold the restrictions but never committing to an outright reversal of Roe." She had the opportunity to side with the conservative majority and thus reverse Roe v. Wade, but she took a stand. "A stray observation from a separate opinion by O'Connor had become the law of the land on the most contentious constitutional issue of her time." (p. 69) O'Connor borrowed the phrase "undue burden," which essentially "recast Roe v. Wade which left the right to an abortion. A conservative President's nominee did not follow his beliefs on abortion. In reading "The Nine" by Jeffrey Toobin, one can observe his bias toward the liberal left. Mr. Toobin is a liberal pundit. He demonstrates his bias continually by examining the possibility of the Conservative right taking over and maintaining control of the Court. During the W. Bush years, Toobin stated that the administration and supporters did not want a balanced court, but control. He spoke of the Evangelicals as a religious group that had influence with some of the President's decisions. Jeffrey Toobin examines the pivotal case of Roe v. Wade. His hypothesis is that if a Republican President is granted the opportunity to make appointments to the Supreme Court that Roe will be overturned and abortion will be outlawed. His theory was negated when he used David Souter as an example.