M-C River Valley Public Library District

A conversation on the Constitution, judicial independence, a project of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in partnership with the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania

eng

videorecording

A conversation on the Constitution

71019822

a project of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in partnership with the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania

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Sunnylands seminars. The judicial branch

judicial independence

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Anthony Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor fielded questions in Washington Tuesday, May 16, 2006 from 50 high school students from the Philadelphia and Los Angeles areas. The students and justices discussed the significance of the judiciary and the ways that independence is protected by the Constitution

What are the roles of the various kinds of judges in the U.S.? -- How is the Supreme Court different from other courts? -- The Supreme Court and the boundaries of the democratic process -- What is judicial independence? -- How do the courts ensure that unpopular people receive a fair trial? -- How do the courts prevent the majority from tyrannizing the minority? -- What are the reasons for judicial independence? -- What makes it possible for judges to make unpopular decisions? -- The law and the judicial oath as checks on the judiciary -- How does the Constitution protect judicial independence? -- What makes the Constitution work? -- How does the role of the judicial branch differ from that of the other two branches? -- Should state court judges be elected? -- What accounts for changes in presidential responses to Supreme Court rulings? -- Why does the public accept the rule of law in controversial cases? -- Why is the rule of law important? -- What is the greatest threat to judicial independence?

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Judicial independence