By Devera B. Scott, Esq., Keith J. Feigenbaum, Esq., Kelley M. Huff, Esq., and the Honorable Jan R. Jurden. 114 Penn St. L. Rev. 217.
In the early years of the American democratic experiment, one of the foremost observers of American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote that “the courts correct the aberrations of democracy and . . . though they can never stop the movements of the majority, they do succeed in checking and directing them.” Tocqueville’s writings resonated greatly at the time, as many states moved towards the popular election of judges in the name of Jacksonian Democracy. Sadly, more than 170 years after they were first spoken, Tocqueville’s words remain relevant and of vital importance as federal and state courts face increasingly virulent assaults on their constitutionally-guaranteed independence . . . [keep reading]