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64 Ohio St. L.J. 3 (2003)
Keynote Address: Thorny Issues and Slippery Slopes: Perspectives on Judicial Independence

handle is hein.journals/ohslj64 and id is 19 raw text is: Keynote Address: Thorny Issues and Slippery Slopes: Perspectives on Judicial Independence THE HONORABLE SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON* Judicial independence is a concept that forms the very foundation of our judicial system. This article discusses judicial independence from the perspectives of the judge, the litigant, and the spectator, describing why each values a judge's ability to perform his or her duties in a fair and impartial manner. The article then -discusses some of the many threats to judicial independence, as well as the traditional and institutional safeguards that help to maintain an independent judiciary. President Kirwan, Ms. Patterson, Chief Justice Moyer, Chief Justice Phillips, and distinguished faculty and participants in this conference entitled Perspectives on Judicial Independence: I take the title of the conference as the theme of my remarks. I will speak about a few of the many perspectives on judicial independence. These are perspectives that intersect and interact, that must be weighed and balanced, and that present different challenges that perhaps call for different resolutions. America has valued judicial independence since before the formation of the country. The American Revolution, a fight for national independence, was also a fight for judicial independence. Among the list of grievances justifying the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence charged King George I with obstructing the administration of justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing judiciary powers' and with making judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.2 But judicial independence is more than the creation of a judiciary or tenure and salaries. Although the phrase is hard to define, the term judicial independence embodies the concept that a judge decides cases fairly, impartially, and according to the facts and law, not according to whim, prejudice, or fear, the dictates of the legislature or executive, or the latest opinion poll. At times, judicial * Chief Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court. This essay is an edited and annotated version of the keynote address delivered by Chief Justice Abrahamson at The Ohio State University on March 21, 2002 at a conference sponsored by the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, the Michael E. Moritz College of Law, and the League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund, entitled Perspectives on Judicial Independence. The author wants to thank Robin Whyte, Ingrid Nelson, and Eric Peterson for their assistance in editing the manuscript and preparing it for publication. 1THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE pars. 14 (U.S. 1776). 2Id. at para. 15.

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