The Imperial U.S. Judiciary May Be Losing It's Crown
Both parties are attacking the U.S. judiciary, which has withstood change for decades. It now faces bipartisan pressure to undertake reform or face Congressional action.
The Judicial Conference of the United States is the de facto board of directors for the third branch of government.
Very few Americans know about the existence of the 27-member Conference, which is led by Chief Justice John Roberts. And no outsider knows what the Conference does when it meets because its proceedings are secret — and it has always been so.
The double standard is glaring. A federal judge is currently micromanaging media access at the U.S. Department of Justice’s facilities in the Pentagon, while the Judicial Conference excludes the media altogether from its meetings, issuing occasional press releases that are dutifully reported as news.
On Monday, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was introducing a package of bills to bring the federal judiciary into compliance with ethical rules that govern the executive branch. He also seeks to require judges to put their assets into a blind trust, something members of Congress are not required to do.
Both Sides
Make no mistake. Schiff’s effort is overtly political. However, it noteworthy because both sides of the aisle are now demanding reform of the U.S. Supreme Court and federal judiciary in the wake of its feckless handling of recent scandals involving blatant judicial misconduct.
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) last week introduced articles of impeachment against a federal judge for allegedly disregarding the threat to the public by releasing a convicted plane hijacker from federal detention and giving ICE less than 24 hours to appeal.
Several Republican leaders have called for the impeachment of federal judges for allegedly overstepping their constitutional authorities and engaging in judicial activism to thwart the Trump administration.
After dozens of nationwide injunctions were issued last year, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to curtail the ability of federal judges to issue universal or nationwide injunctions.
The U.S. Supreme Court adopted its first code of conduct in 2023, but it lacks an enforcement mechanism. (Meanwhile, the lower courts’ supposed code of conduct is increasingly seen as a modern-day farce, due in part to the lack of independent oversight of judicial misconduct complaints.)
Three Bills
The package of proposed bills introduced by Schiff include:
