In response to President Donald Trump’s recent comments questioning the neutrality of certain federal courts, the presidents of the Jacksonville Bar Association and the local chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates sent this letter to the Jacksonville Daily Record and Jacksonville Record & Observer:
The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are fundamental, guiding principles of our historic, constitutional system of the separation of powers, created by our founding fathers. Our founders designed the judicial branch to be apolitical.
Judges are governed by the rule of law, not partisanship or shifting political winds.
Partisan assaults based on supposed political affiliation perpetuates a troubling misperception of the role of our courts and their constitutional judicial independence.
Attacks on specific judges or specific appellate courts and threats to break up the courts undermine the institutional credibility of our judicial system. As stated by Justice Gorsuch during his confirmation hearing, these kinds of attacks are “demoralizing and disheartening.”
We applaud United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts for stating that:
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
The American Board of Trial Advocates, Jacksonville Chapter, fully supports Chief Justice John Roberts’ statement and we give thanks for an independent judiciary.
Katie Dearing, JBA President
Curry Pajcic, President, American Board of Trial Advocates, Jacksonville Chapter