Essay on "Questioning the Federal Judiciary"

Essay 3 pages (1120 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The vetting of candidates seems critical, but the nomination and confirmation process is heavily politicized (Levy, 2014). If a mechanism could be devised that would force the Senate to confirm or deny an appointment within a set time period and according to specific qualification criteria, maybe this would help fill all the vacancies that currently exist.

Question 3

The rule of law is indeed a key strength of American society, but only in comparison to much of the rest of the world. What is meant by this statement is that there is a lot of room for improvement, but when compared to most nations, the rule of law, as enforced by the United States government, remains a standard against which other criminal justice systems can be judged. Is it, therefore, appropriate to cite the rule of law as a key pillar of American government? Yes, but only by comparison to more corrupt governments.

National Public Radio (2014), the New York University Brennan Center for Justice, and the National Center for State Courts conducted a nationwide survey of criminal justice fees assessed for the arrest, arraignment, and conviction of criminal defendants. The fees defendants and the convicted can expect to pay in most states are for electronic monitoring, probation/supervision, public defender, legal costs, and room and board. This growing practice has been characterized as the 21st century equivalent of debtor prisons because it disproportionally affects low-income defendants. For example, a defendant could be convicted and sentenced to probation, but if they are unable to pay the fees probation can be revoked and they serve jail time. Getting out of jail, however, depends on the ability to pay the fee and paying the fee often depends on having a job. In other words, the rule of law, as practiced by most state governments, is heavily biased against persons living in poverty.

These fees exist in spite of Supreme Court jurisprudence that states a person who makes a reasonable effort to pay court assessed fees cannot be automatically jailed if they fail in this task (Bearden v. Georgia, 1983). Obviously, this is not the practice in countless jurisdictions. The rule of law, as practiced in the United States, is indeed imperfect and skewed to favor citizens with substantial financial resources.

References

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. (n.d.) Judges & Judgeships. Retrieved from http://www.uscourts.gov/JudgesAndJudgeships/FederalJudgeships.aspx.

American Bar Association. (2010, May 11). American Bar Association. Retrieved from http://www.scotusblog.com/american-bar-association/.

American Bar Association. (2014). Standing committee on the federal judiciary: What it is and how it works. Retrieved from http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/uncategorized/GAO/Backgrounder.authcheckdam.pdf.

Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660 (1983). Retrieved from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/461/660/case.html.

Denniston, L. (2014, October 8). Same-sex marriages in Nevada? Maybe yes, maybe no. Retrieved from http://www.scotusblog.com/.

Latta v. Otter, 9th Circuit Docket No.14-35420, 14-35421 (2014, October 7). Retrieved from http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=

Levy, P. (2014, July 21). With judicial nominations held up, justice comes slowly. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/judicial-nominations-held-justice-comes-slowly-260029.

National Public Radio. (2014, may 19). State-by-state court fees. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2014/05/19/312455680/state-by-state-court-fees.

Sevcik v. Sandoval, 9th Circuit Docket No. 12-17668 (2014, October 7). Retrieved from http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=

United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. ____ (2013). Retrieved from https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/570/12-307/. READ MORE

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