DB 11.1

1- In what ways is the court system better suited to protect the individual, than are the elected branches of government (such as Congress and the President; or the Mayor of NYC and the NYC City Assembly)? Give an example to illustrate your argument.

In my point of view, the court system is better suited to protect individuals because they operate separetely from social pressure and personal popularity problems like Mayors, Congress etc face. As an example, A clear example is the case of Brown v. Board of Education . During the time of that case, racial segregation in public schools was supported by majorities in many states and by elected officials. Congress and state legislatures were unwilling to act. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, protecting the rights of Black students even though the decision was highly unpopular in many parts of the country.

2.Think about how federal judges get to become judges – unlike Presidents, Mayors and members of Congress (and other legislatures), they are not elected, but rather appointed. Many Americans have thus called the federal courts system, and especially the Supreme Court, anti-democratic places in our government. Do you agree that the Supreme Court, for example, is an anti-democratic part of our government? What could be the reason for this way of choosing judges in federal courts? (HINT: think about our discussion of “Federalist #10”, and which social class plays a leading role in our government system.)

In my point of view, yes. Appointed judges that serve for life are an anti-democratic approach in our government, because usually the person appointed is someone that shares same ideas and goals as the president that is appointing that judge, knowling that the ruling will be on their favor. Thinking back of the federalist #10, it is also clear that this decision is designed to be like this, as there are multiple ways to make the mass and majority of people to feel like they have power over certain situations, but in reality the government, appointed people and judges are part of a very small elite group of people, and they intentionally don’t want voting to shake that power.