News and Resources

• Task force critical of congressman’s tactics
  An official statement from AJS and the task force regarding the recent letter from Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner to the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit.
   
• Unpopular decisions shouldn't unseat judges
  A guest column by Allan Sobel appeared in the Des Moines Register on August 27, 2004.
   
• Judicial Ethics Under Review
  Task Force Chair Steve Burbank responds to New York Times editorial.
   
• AJS Executive Director's response to recent criticism of Iowa Supreme Court justices.
  Allan Sobel's letter to the editor appeared in the Des Moines Register on March 1, 2004.
   
• Threats to Judicial Independence
  An appeal from former AJS president, Robert M. Kaufman.

• Judicial Independence News
  Resources for current news relating to judicial independence, including summaries and clippings.

• What is Judicial Independence?
  General discussion of judicial independence and potential threats.
   
• The Importance of Judicial Independence
  Do judges have too much power? In recent months, politicians and others have criticized judges for rulings that seem to defy conventional wisdom and the popular will.
   
• Judges Under Fire
  Concrete examples of the need for an independent judiciary.

• Attacks on Judges:  Why They Fail
  In testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, Barry Friedman (Professor at NYU School of Law, Secretary of the American Judicature Society, and Co-Chair of the Task Force for the Center for Judicial Independence) recounts that the American people consistently reject challenges to an independent federal judiciary. Reprinted from Judicature, the journal of the American Judicature Society, January-February 1998.

• Judicial independence and human rights protection around the world
  by Linda Camp Keith
  A truly independent judiciary is expected to be able to counter incursions upon individual rights by other branches of the government. How effective are national constitutional provisions on judicial independence in achieving this goal?
  
  
• Publications
  Information on articles and publications related to judicial independence.
  
  
• Links
  Links to additional judicial independence resources on the web.