Page 87 - ACTL Journal Win24

In June 2022, a man was arrested outside Justice Brett Ka- vanaugh’s home armed with a Glock-17 pistol with two magazines, ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a crowbar, and duct tape. When arrested, he said he was there to kill Justice Kavanaugh because he was upset about the leaked draft of the abortion decision from the Supreme Court. A number of Republican Senators saw a clear connection be- tween this threat to the security of a Supreme Court Justice and Senator Schumer’s earlier comments.
Threats like these are not just reprehensible; they don’t just undermine the reputations of judges who have dedicated themselves to the administration of justice. They are, as Judge Trevor McFadden said, “nothing less than an attack on our system of government.”
I fully acknowledge that there are some people appointed to the Bench who do, in fact, come to the job with agen- das of their own. But I would like to think that the vast majority of judges believe and act as did the late D.C. Cir- cuit Judge (and former Senator) James Buckley who said: “I think a lot of the law I am required to apply is awful. But I view my oath as requiring me to come out with the result the lawmakers intended. I take my orders from the Consti- tution and from the Supreme Court.”
It is not just the independence of judges but the rule of law itself that I believe is at serious risk. People today simply do not trust the courts and the impartiality of judges and their rulings as they have in the past. Too many now increasingly question judges’ motives, integrity, politics, and commit- ment to principles of neutrality and nonpartisanship. So it is more important than ever that we work together to re- store respect for the judgments of the courts. As retired D.C. Circuit Judge Thomas Griffith said “When we are beset by a toxic political polarization that poses an existential threat to the Constitution,” it “is up to the judiciary” – and I would add, the leaders of the Bar – “to show the nation how to engage in reasoned argument with respect for one another.”
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It is my fervent hope that – with your help and that of other respected members of the Bar – the judiciary under attack will overcome this moment in time. To- gether we must attempt to restore our nation’s com- mitment to such reasoned, respectful argument in our mutual quest to help renew the public’s faith in the integrity and impartiality of our courts. Now more than ever before we judges need leaders in the pro- fession – like the Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers – to come to the defense of the courts, their independent role, and the rule of law itself.