An independent judiciary if we can keep it: Souter issues warning

[usregimechange]

Retired Justice David Souter implored lawyers attending the ABA annual meeting to revive effective civics education or face the “danger” of a nation that doesn’t value judicial independence because it doesn’t understand it.

In one of his first speeches since leaving the Supreme Court this year, Souter told those gathered in downtown Chicago this evening that he and his schoolmates understood the three branches of government by the time they were in the ninth grade and lamented that survey results today suggest that two-thirds of Americans can’t even name those three branches.

“I’m here to speak this evening because civic education in the United States is not good enough, and we have to do something about it,” Souter said in a somber tone. “I want to speak about the risk to constitutional government when a substantial portion of the American populace simply fails to gain that understanding. In particular, I’ll ask you to consider the danger to judicial independence when people have no conception of how the judiciary fits within the constitutional scheme.”

Souter recalled how he came to learn the structure of government, including some sense of the different functions of legislative, judicial and executive authorities, as a New Hampshire youngster sitting through annual town meetings. He also learned the difference between the town’s power and the state’s power, and observed how the moderator of the meeting allowed anyone in town to have his or her say.

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/abameetingblog/2009/08/an-independent-judiciary-if-we-can-keep-it-souter-issues-warning.html


Video of his remarks here:
http://www.abanow.org/2009/08/souter-tells-aba-annual-meeting-opening-assembly-that-civic-education-is-critical-to-preserving-an-independent-judiciary/