So This is How Liberty Dies

The two women of the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, have both recently spoken out about threats to judges, which in turn threaten the independence of the judiciary.

In a March 9 speech reported by National Public Radio, but ignored by most other major media, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor defended the necessity of an independent judiciary to protect freedoms and prevent tyranny. She named no names, but quoted both Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and criticized their comments for promoting retaliation against individual judges and the federal judiciary as a whole for rulings on particular cases. Delay had criticized the courts for decisions on abortion, prayer and the Terry Schiavo case. Of the Schiavo ruling, DeLay said: "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior" and he later called for the impeachment of the judges involved. Cornyn had made a statement that there may be a connection between violence against judges and the decisions they make after a Georgia judge was murdered in the courtroom and the family of a federal judge in Illinois was murdered in her home.

O'Connor noted recent suggestions for retaliating against the courts such as the massive impeachment of judges, stripping the courts of jurisdiction and cutting judicial budgets. O’Connor asserted that judicial independence relies upon an environment in which judges and justices won't be subject to retaliation for their rulings.

A March 16 article in Legal Times, reported on a February speech by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered at the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Justice Ginsburg said she and Sandra Day O'Connor were the targets of an Internet death threat in 2005 because of their citation of foreign law and court rulings in Supreme Court decisions. In her speech, Ginsburg suggested the threat was prompted by bills introduced by Republicans in Congress that would prohibit federal courts from referring to foreign laws or rulings in interpreting the U.S. Constitution.