Sandra Day O’Connor on Activist Judges
According to Sandra, ordinary politics are incomparable to the United States judicial system. Therefore the judges need to follow the principle of stare decisis to help judges decide for similar cases in the future. The approach also helps the judges to reduce uncertainty in decision making. However, there is an advantage of having an option for the judges to discard precedent due to changes in laws and policies over time. Political affiliation can make judges become activists, and it influenced the decisions made in the court for specific cases. Therefore, the “activist” judges can discard the precedent to favor their stands and affiliation (“Sandra Day O’Connor on Activist Judges,” 2008) Eliminating politics in the judicial selection function is a significant approach to counter with judicial activism. Discarding the precedent is common among the judicial activists to ensure their decisions are based on their personal opinions. However, politics is not the sole source of judicial activism. Therefore, the approach will only reduce the effect of judicial activism in a significant percentage. Such judges make decisions based on their personal opinions instead of the existing laws and constitution. Therefore, if we eliminate judicial selection out of politics, there is hope to solving judicial activism.
References
Sandra Day O’Connor on Activist Judges. (2008, August 21). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEntVPddsMw