Judicial independence

Consider how uneasily Chevron deference sits alongside so many other aspects of our law.

Having witnessed firsthand King George's effort to gain influence and control over colonial judges, see the Declaration of Independence, the framers made a considered judgment to build judicial independence into the Constitution's design.

They vested the judicial power in decision-makers with life tenure.

They placed the judicial salary beyond political control during a judge's tenure.

So the Department of Justice filed a ethics complaint, uh, with the circuit, with the Eighth Circuit, asking the chief judge for a, a investigation and saying that they had violated the canons of judicial ethics that prevents judges from talking in public about the merits of a case before them or of saying things that basically show bias, uh, that they have prejudged, uh, matters before them.

Uh, so for what it's worth, uh, Judge Schlitz and others basically say that ethical, uh, rules allow judges to speak about issues like the rule of law and judicial independence and core, uh, court issues like that, and that the, the canons about bias and things like that can't be construed to prevent them from talking about that.

And there are, uh, you know, he cites to a ethical advisory opinion from the Judiciary's Committee on Codes of Conduct that supports that, that viewpoint.

But, I mean, the, the, the line is a little difficult Between what's an improper comment on a case or on bi-bias against particular litigant versus what's permitted.

Her Excellency was in the Cayman Islands for the 2026 Distinguished Guest Lecture held on Monday, the 28th of September.

She presented on the topic, When the Robes Come Off, Judicial Independence, Ethics, and Accountability, a Cautionary Tale.

Her Excellency reflected on the conference as Wella spoke about her past in the legal fraternity and her advice to students

trying to do the same.

And it, um, [smacks lips] created a, um, grave threat to the rule of law.

I- in a statement, Minnesota's Attorney General, Keith Ellison, condemned the Justice Department's complaint against federal judges as, quote, "A desperate and dangerous attack on American judicial independence." He added, "Trump and his allies have bullied immigrants, refugees, and the trans community, and now they're turning their attacks toward a co-equal branch of government," Ellison said.

And those are some of the headlines.

This is Democracy Now, democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report.

It has agreed with Trump when it has agreed with Trump and it has ruled against Trump when it has disagreed with Trump.

That is judicial independence and highly partisan people Say, you know, maybe somebody highly partisan on the left might say, well, Trump's so dangerous, you need to rule against him no matter what.

No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not the rule of law.

And then there's the highly partisan Trumpists who think that you're not a patriot or you're betraying Trump or whatever.