The Role of the Judiciary and the Impact of Political Influence

This essay explores the role of the judicial system, focusing on the appointment process of judges and the influence of politics on judicial decisions. It examines the structure of the judicial system, including the federal courts, and discusses how the appointment of judges impacts the balance of power. The paper highlights the importance of judicial independence and how the system is intended to function in order to ensure fairness and impartiality in the legal process. The essay references academic sources, such as books and journals, to support its arguments about how the judicial system functions, the challenges it faces, and the impact of political influence on the judiciary. The essay also addresses the potential for conflicts of interest and the need for accountability within the judiciary to maintain public trust and the legitimacy of the legal system.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Political Science
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Author Note

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Judges are appointed for life, according to the Article III of the constitution of United
States. The judges are nominated by the Presidents and then conformation is issued by the
Senate, after which the Judges serve through their life tenure at the offices. Federal judges
possess great power as they can take decisions which directly affect lives of people in the
country, their well-being and livelihoods as well as fundamental rights. Federal Judges are pillars
to the executive as well as legislative branches as they check and ensure unbiased functionality
of both the systems by striking a balance.
The system, thus, ensured by the Federal Judges ensure that the President and lawmakers
abide by the established laws and the constitutions. It is very important that the judiciary is
independent in operation as well as have confidence of public on the decisions made along with
the institution. This is because, deviance from the same would lead to chaos as it will be very
difficult to enforce ruling (Fish, 2015). However, Federal Judges are appointed to their position
rather than being elected. The appointments are permanent, which is often a very debatable topic
as legal scholars, practitioners as well as judicial commentators have raised several issues which
might arise from the system followed.
It is very important for Judicial System to be fair and impartial which should uphold and
protect everyone’s right. People reach out to the court, when there is a dispute just in order to
look for the justice they deserve (Neubauer & Meinhold, 2016). Thus, Judges should be impartial
and unbiased in those situations to offer the most suited and fair verdict on the matter so that
people have faith and trust in the system. The roles of judges are very different from those of the
other two pillars in the government- Legislative and Executive (Fish, 2015). Therefore, it is very
important for the court to maintain political neutrality. Judges are to assess and serve verdict to
cases based on laws rather than being influenced by popular opinion and political inclinations.

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Therefore, the judiciary must operate independently. It is here, that the process of appointment of
judges play a very crucial role as they are selected rather than being elected, especially in the
Federal Courts. The process varies at the local and state level courts (Neubauer & Meinhold,
2016).
However, the system has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. The process of
appointment has been a much debated topic as the Presidents have a big role to play in the
selection, which might lead to legitimacy crisis if the judges fail to maintain accountability and
fairness. Appointment procedure may as well be politically motivated in order, which is very
detrimental for the government to operate fairly. The process of appointment may as well lack
proper representation in the federal judiciary which promote diversity and strengthen judiciary’s
legitimacy. While on the other hand, if there is an election procedure to appoint a judge, there
might be conflict of interest and the most appropriate candidate might not be the person being
elected to take the responsibility of upholding values of the judiciary.

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References
Fish, P. G. (2015). The politics of federal judicial administration. Princeton University Press.
Neubauer, D. W., & Meinhold, S. S. (2016). Judicial process: law, courts, and politics in the
United States. Nelson Education.