- The court system is better suited to protect an individual rather than the elected branches of government such as Congress, the President, and the mayor of NYC, and the NYC assembly because they have no political pressure unlike the elected branches of government they don’t have to consider public opinion as much and simply abide by the laws. For example, in “13.3 The Federal Court System” it states “Democratic-appointed judges sometimes side with conservatives, just as Republican-appointed judges sometimes side with liberals.” This quote proves that despite a judge’s political stance they don’t let it impact their choice in condemning a defendant. Another way the court system is better suited to protect an individual is that it protects all rights even of minority groups meanwhile the elected branches often prioritize the majority. For example, the case of Ernesto Miranda who was arrested for kidnapping and rape but had his original conviction overturned due to law enforcement’s violating his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights since he wasn’t read his rights or had access to an attorney.
2. I agree with the statement about the Supreme Court being an anti-democratic part of our government because they aren’t directly chosen by voters but rather appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The reason for this way of choosing judges in federal courts could be to prevent the majority from oppressing the minority. Back in Federalist #10 James Madison among other framers were concerned about having a pure democracy and it leading to the majority oppressing the minority groups through government or rule. Our way of choosing judges in federal court ensures this won’t happen because this prevents the majority from easily controlling or influencing the judiciary. Most importantly it completely prevents political opinion from influencing a judges decision. For example, like it states in “ The Federal Court System” it states “One of the reasons the framers of the U.S. Constitution included the provision that federal judges would be appointed for life was to provide the judicial branch with enough independence such that it could not easily be influenced by the political winds of the time.” This shows that no matter who our President is at the time whether they’re Republican or Democratic Party.
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Hi Edith, you raised good points about how judges are no longer influenced by politics, so they can concentrate on fairness rather than popularity. Your example of the Miranda case relates well to my own instance of courts defending individuals whose rights had been overlooked at the lower level. We both agreed that the Supreme Court is not anti-democratic, but rather, it is intended to guard against the excesses of majority rule on the minorities, as was outlined by Madison in Federalist 10.