Judicial Appointments: Checks And Balances In Practice By Rachel Brand
Sonia Sotomayor was the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history. She was nominated by president Barack Obama on May 26, 2009. Sotomayor is a women who got nominated by Barack Obama. She graduated from Yale Law School and passed the bar in 1980. She became a U.S. District Court Judge in 1992 and was elevated to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998.
The legislative branch consists of the two houses of Congress that have been decided upon by the Great Compromise (the House of Representatives and the Senate). Joint together as one system, Congress has the powers to create laws, declare war, override veto, and impeach the president. Secondly, the executive branch—consisting of the president, vice president, and the Cabinet—has the power to carry out laws (approve), negotiate foreign treaties—such as alliances—, and can grant pardons for federal offers. Finally, the judicial branch, or the Supreme Court Justices can interpret laws, declare laws unconstitutional, and declare the president unconstitutional. Having three branches of government helps keep the government in check, and it prevents one branch becoming more powerful than the other branches.
The Executive branch executes laws and is the president. The Judicial branch judges laws and is the Supreme Court. The Legislative branch creates laws and is the House of Representatives and Senate. James Madison said in Federalist Paper #47 Document B, “the accumulation of all powers...in the same hands...may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” This helps protect from tyranny because the Separation of Powers prevents all power from being in the same hands.
The quality of judges would without a doubt increase if they were appointed. However, I do not agree with the idea of judges being appointed. When looking at the partisan aspect you notice several possible issues with one issue being, is that individual the right person to do the job. Partisan election of judges allows for an individual that may not be as qualified for the job to be elected into the position. Nevertheless the partisan election of judges gives the voters what they want based on party affiliation along with qualifications.
The argument/famous Supreme Court case Madison vs. Marbury asked us the question should the Judicial Branch be able to declare laws unconstitutional. I think the Judicial Branch should be able to declare a law unconstitutional. I believe this because the judicial branch is very small, they have no other checks on any other branch, and they don’t receive any money. The Judicial Branch is so small.
In addition, the executive branch was responsible for enforcing or vetoing laws passed by Congress (in addition to its other powers). As for the judiciary, it is responsible for interpreting federal laws and the constitution and for overseeing the decisions made by the federal and state courts. Before when it was unable to address economic and boundary disputes, the judiciary under the constitution was able to address a wide range conflicts. Above all, these three branches of government share equal power to prevent one form of government from becoming too
In addition to judicial selection methods, at the federal level, the president and senate get to appoint seats to judges, in which they will have for life. In my opinion, I think this selection method is good to some extent because I trust that the president and senate have good judgment when it comes to picking judges that will be independent, fair, and accountable. At the state level, electing judges varies from state to state. In
There are state levels and federal levels of the executive branch, at state level the executive branch includes governors and also their staff and at the federal level the executive branch includes the President, the vice President, staffs of appointed advisors and a few other departments and agencies that may seem familiar such as the central intelligence agency and the federal bureau of investigation even the post office. The executive branch does many things, such as appointing federal judges and they deal in the nations domestic and foreign policies. Checks and balances are in place to limit the power of the executive branch. The limitations and accountability within the executive branch are through electorate and congress by both impeachment and over ride of executive
Federal Judges and Supreme Court Justices The process for electing a federal judge is both a simple, yet complicated one. A number of things take place between the need for a nominee and the appointment to a position. The basis for the nomination and appointment of federal judges and Supreme Court Justices is the Appointments Clause (Article II, Section 2, Clause 2) of the United States Constitution: “The President...shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law....” First a vacancy must be present at which time the President can make a nomination.
It takes a lot for a justice to be appointed. First, all justices must be trained in law before being appointed. “Like all federal judges, justices are appointed by the President and are confirmed by the Senate. They, typically, hold office for life.” (uscourts.gov, N.D.)
Judges are chosen in a variety of ways. The president appoints Federal Courts judges, with the advice and permission of the Senate. The states courts are appointed by the governor; merit selection, where the governor appoints a judge from a list of names submitted by a special nominating commission; appointment by the legislature; partisan election, where the candidates political affiliations are mentioned on the ballot; and nonpartisan election, where no political party is mentioned. Each state within the United States has its own unique judicial selection process within its own court system.
Judicial selection is an intriguing topic as there are multiple ways that judges take their seat on the bench. The United States Constitution spells out how federal judges are selected and leaves it up to the individual states to establish their means for selecting judges. In federal courts, judges are appointed and it varies between appointment and election for state courts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the differences between appointments and elections (as well as the multiple types of elections) and to give an opinion as to which is the better alternative. Federal judges are appointed by the President of the United States and are confirmed on the advice and consent of the United States Senate.
He suggests the names of judges to Senate and with advice and consent of Senate, judges are appointed by the President. Judicial committee of Senate plays very significant role in evaluating the cardinals of the proposed judges of the Supreme Court. They make the investigation of the background of judges, they hold the face to face interaction with judges, the judges are queered and grilled and questions are put. The whole process happens in public and in transparent manner. The citizens of US has any information about judges integrity, they can send the information with evidence to the Senate Judicial Committee which will make the further investigation and make sure that no unworthy candidate will be appointed as judges to the Supreme Court.
The executive branch can check the laws congress wants to pass and can veto them if he disagrees. The Legislative branch can check the executive by accepting the already vetoed law and can impeach or fire the president out of office. The Justice Branch can make sure peoples rights and liberties are being followed and check if the laws follow the constitution's rules. In the text, it says “To further limit government power the framers provided for separation of powers the constitution separates the government into three branches Congress of the legislative branch makes the laws. The executive branch headed by the president carries out laws.
The president is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The person in this position is the leader of the country which has the largest economy and the largest military, with command authority over the largest active nuclear arsenal. The president is frequently described as the most powerful person in the world. Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president and charges him with the execution of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
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