Only 35% of Americans trust the US judicial system. This is catastrophic

[Lonestarblue]

Not much in this article will be new to most of us, but I post it here as a reference for what Democrats need to do going forward. Presenting the case to the US public for court reform will be even more important as Trump appoints more of his loyalists to the federal courts.


“What is deeply frustrating is that Democrats refuse to make the case for reforming a captured court even given its widespread unpopularity and even during a close and bitterly contested race for the White House that probably sealed rightwing dominance of the supreme court into the 2060s, if not beyond.

Snip

The Democratic party’s failure here goes well beyond this most recent campaign. Democrats had a trifecta in Washington after the 2020 election and made no serious effort on judicial reform. The judiciary committee, under the toothless leadership of Senator Dick Durbin, botched every opportunity to hold hearings and demand accountability after the revelations of vacations and other gifts awarded to the conservative justices. In 2016, Democrats nominated the milquetoast Merrick Garland to fill an opening presented by the death of Antonin Scalia, then barely bothered to fight for their nominee in the face of Mitch McConnell’s unprecedented blockade.

And while conservatives spent five decades building their own alternative legal establishment – complete with the Federalist Society as its credentialing factory, and presidents who agreed to outsource supreme court and other judicial appointments to extreme rightwing activists – Democrats trusted blindly and foolishly in the rule of law and the strength of institutional norms. They built little of their own. They failed to sound the alarm. They never bothered to build a mandate for popular fixes.“

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/21/americans-trust-supreme-court

[gab13by13]

1. What do

you suggest we do?

I suggested adding SC justices and was criticized here. What is your opinion of that?

President Biden just appointed a record number of higher court judges, what do you suggest he should have done differently?

[Lonestarblue]

4. I agreed with the need to appoint four new justices.

I think the people appointed to the commission to study the federal court system were traditionalists like Biden who did not want to rock the boat.

The federal court system has long needed an overhaul, and not just for political reasons. Congress has not changed the composition of states in each circuit in decades even as our population has increased significantly and population shifts to southern states has meant that some circuit courts now have far larger populations to cover. The fact that cases that come before these courts can take five or more years for resolution is ridiculous. Several justices in these overburdened courts have written analyses and appeals for relief by at least appointing more judges have mostly been ignored, though I do agree that the recent effort to add more positions should have failed because it was based solely on Trump’s wish to have more seats to fill.

I would like to see an analysis of the whole system of 13 courts by population covered with adjustments of states in each circuit to provide better balance and an increase in the number of judges to help carry the load. In addition, we should institute term limits fr all federal judges. .

For the Supreme Court, I would like to see 13 justices, one each to oversee the 13 circuit courts and term limits. In addition, I would like to see Congress pass requirements and definitions for judges to serve under the Constitution’s good behavior clause, which should include ethics and behavior not representing one political party.

[jimfields33]

7. I can see President musk agreeing with the democratic

Party and convince trump to add four justices since it’s something that needs to be done. They will put four conservatives on the court. But won’t add ethics or anything like that.

[Lovie777]

2. Do they care?....

That’s why it’s called a dictatorship.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Mistrust no surprise. You want to stay out of the hospital, but you REALLY want to stay out of court. /nt

[rampartd]

5. "if you are kooking for justice, stay out of court." rampart sr

between maga who think "lawfare " is a thing

the poor who know the system is a meat grinder

anyone who has watched what a dream team of lawyers and an unlimited defense fund can accomplish for a treasonous felon

and the sorry ethical condition and blatant partisanship of the justices

how can anyone trust the courts?

[Emile]

6. New rule of law. Innocent until proven broke.

[dalton99a]

8. The Trump Supreme Whorehouse will rule over us for decades to come.

[Martin68]

9. It is catastrophic, but the reasons for disapproval differ greatly between MAGAts and Democrats. Democrats are concerned

about the number of people in prisons and the racial disparities between the number of imprisoned people, and people on death row. Democrats are concerned with arrests and stops that are based on racial bias. MAGAts are mainly concerned with criminal investigations of MAGAt officials and politicians on one hand, and want more arrests and longer sentences for petty crime when minorities are involved.

[Johonny]

10. That it is 35 percent feels amazing

What wonderland do they live in?

[Baitball Blogger]

11. About the same percentage as Trump's support.