Rediscovering Judicial Independence and the Rule of Law in Judicial Externship Clinics and Classes

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Session Type: Lightning Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Yosemite A

Floor: Ballroom Level

Clinics and experiential programs that involve students in advocacy roles as well as those that place students in judicial externships ask students to work in a judicial institution increasingly under attack. While some see the courts as the least turbulent branch of government, political criticism of judges as biased and calls for judicial removal or impeachment over unpopular decisions are increasingly frequent. Examples from the popular media will be included for class discussion.
This lightning session promotes the importance of returning to the basics of judicial independence. We believe that students going to court, whether to prosecute, defend, or extern with a judge, should begin the semester reviewing these fundamentals. We will discuss and distribute several approaches to presenting these issues, starting with historical English and American principles and including perspectives on the current tension between methods that protect judicial independence and those that promote democratic accountability of the judiciary. We will present focused teaching materials in three areas often cited as enhancing judicial independence: methods of judicial selection, standards of judicial ethics, and the aspirational values of judicial competence. For each of these topics we will provide a class outline including learning goals, reading assignments, an in-class exercise, and bibliography. We will also examine the ABA Information Packet for National Judicial Outreach Week 2019, which, while oriented toward judges becoming more active in their communities, does offer a variety of ways for students to think about the positive contributions of an independent judiciary as the safeguard of rights and liberties.