The Independence of the US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States that was created by the Founding Fathers to interpret the Constitution and maintain a system of checks and balances on the Presidency and Congress (Manaster 20).
Judicial Independence
Most importantly, the US Founding Fathers created three arms of the federal government that are independent. Therefore, judicial independence is a core principle in the functioning of the US government. Judicial independence implies that the courts in the US should not be influenced by the other arms of the government. As such, the US Supreme Court is an independent organ of the federal government that is constitutionally insulated from the politics of the executive and legislature (Nelson 7).
Maintaining Judicial Independence
Furthermore, according to the constitution, the courts should be non-partisan and should not be biased. Different countries across the world maintain judicial independence using varied means of judicial selection. As a result, one of the most effective ways of maintaining or enhancing judicial independence is through life tenure for judges. Judges can only be removed from the court through death, resigning, or by impeachment. In the US history, only thirteen judges have experienced impeachment by the Congress. The US Supreme Court judges rule for life, an aspect that frees them to decide and make rulings according to the law via judicial discretion even if the court decisions are opposed by powerful interests or is politically unpopular (McCloskey and Levinson 45).
Supreme Court's Independence in Practice
The independence of the Supreme Court has been tested over the years when faced with controversial issues and a divided general public. Most notably, the US Supreme Court has been a trend-setter and made decisions that were much more progressive than the dominant political ideas.
Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act
When the Obama administration enacted the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there were political disagreements about the effectiveness of the regulation. The Republicans and Democrats have always differed with regards to Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act was meant to provide more Americans with health insurance especially the marginalized and poor households in the US. However, critics argued that the act would cost the US taxpayer billions of dollars to maintain Medicare and Medicaid programs under the ACA. Moreover, during the 2016 presidential campaigns, Donald Trump promised to abolish Obamacare during his first days in office if elected in office. Over a year down the line since his election as the 45th US president, Trump has not managed to terminate Obamacare. Why? Sinc 2010, the House of Representatives was controlled by the Republicans who voted like sixty times for the termination of Obamacare also renowned as ACA (Manaster 67). However, the Republicans failed. If the Supreme Court was not independent, the judges would have made a single ruling that could have legally abolished the detested Affordable Care Act. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court upheld the rulings of the lower courts because by then, approximately six million low-income Americans benefiting from federal subsidies would not have managed to purchase health insurance. Likewise, the Supreme Court has undeniably rejected affidavits to abolish the ACA under Trump because the federal government has not even drafted a proposal of how to move from a multi-party health care pay system to a universal system (McCloskey and Levinson 52). Furthermore, when Trump issued a travel ban of Muslim majority countries like Somalia, the Supreme Court partially banned the executive order implying an impartial court system able to stand against unpopular political ideas.
Divisive Judgments
The US Supreme Court has also made judgments that had and still cause division among the Americans. In the independence of the judiciary, courts have the obligation to make rulings according to the constitution even if the public in a democratic state do not approve the judgment entirely. When the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, it struck down states that had banned the marriages. States across the US were divided with regards to same-sex rights (Krutz 81). Up to this date, there are millions of Americans who despise gay marriages while others feel that people have the right to marry whomever they choose. Similarly, in 2008, the Supreme Court made a decision to enact the Second Amendment that gives Americans the rights to own a firearm. Contrary to the ruling, the US has had the highest firearm-related deaths in the world (Nelson 23). America has half of the world's civilian-held guns estimated to be 644 million (Everytownresearch.org). As a result, gun control movements have been common among the American public as well as in the political arena with sharp divisions between the Democrats and Republicans. In the recent past, President Trump proposed the arming of teachers as a means of deterring mass school shootings that have been prevalent in the US. Allowing guns in schools has been a controversial issue following February 14 2018 Florida school shooting that left 17 students dead (Everytownresearch.org). As the political debate over gun control continues, the independence of the Supreme Court will be tested once again.
Abortion Debate
Abortion has been a controversial issue in the United States. In 1973 during the Roe v. Wade court hearing, the Supreme Court made a landmark judgment that constitutionally gave women the right to legal and safe abortion (Nelson 25). During the presidential campaigns, Trump supported the right to abortion. However, after attaining the presidency seat, he changed his stand on the issue. The Republican Party has always been on the anti-abortion platform in favor of laws that restrict access to abortion. Therefore, during his first week in office, President Trump suspended nongovernment organizations funded by the federal government from engaging in abroad abortion forums (Krutz 28). The executive power of the US government remains steadfast in its bid to reverse the 1973 ruling. As a result, there has been a contentious debate in the US with women organizing pro-choice movements across the country. States have rules imposed banning abortion and if the Roe ruling was overturned, it would be legal to carry out abortions (Nelson 41). In all these scenarios, the US Supreme Court illustrates its independence in that the federal institution has managed to make controversial rulings even under the pressure from the executive. In the entire Trump's rhetoric regarding the judiciary, the body has proven that the judges are up for the task even if some are appointed by the government of the day.
The Supreme Court as an Independent Institution
On the contrary, critics argue that the nomination of judges has led to the evolution of the Supreme Court making it a partisan judicial body. They claim that the court has to consult the ruling party before making judgments which is against the constitutional mandate of non-partisan legal system. All in all, the actions of the Supreme Court indicate an independent organization that is true to its mandate, making it the most influential and powerful judiciary in the world (Krutz 61).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the US Supreme Court represents one of the highest levels of judicial independence structures in the world. The Supreme Court is part of the judicial arm of the federal government. Since the three arms of the US government maintain checks and balances on each other, the judiciary is important because it interprets the constitution and ensures that the Congress and the Executive function within the law. Therefore, the Supreme Court is non-partisan, unbiased and is legally obliged to make rulings per judicial discretion even if the decisions are not popular among the population. Furthermore, by allowing judges to have life tenure, the US promotes the needed judicial freedoms. In the above-discussed scenarios entailing gay marriage, gun control, Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and abortion, the Supreme Court has maintained its independence proving that it does not favor principles and ideologies of the ruling party despite political pressure. Therefore, as the highest court, the Supreme Court should not be politicized and should be given space to interpret laws and safeguard the power of the courts in the US. According to the American Founding Fathers, the people's rights precede the formation and existence of the government. Therefore, it is the role of an independent judicial federal body to maintain civil liberties and solve disputes within the realms of the US Constitution.
Works Cited
Everytownresearch.org. "Keep Guns Out Of Elementary, Middle, and High Schools."
https://everytownresearch.org/guns-in-elementary-middle-and-high-schools/. Accessed 6 Mar 2018.
Krutz, Glen. American Government. Houston, TX: OpenStax CNX
McCloskey, Robert G., and Sanford Levinson. The American Supreme Court. The University
of Chicago Press, 2016.
Manaster, Kenneth A. “The American Legal System and Civic Engagement.” 2013,
doi:10.1057/9781137342331.
Nelson, Garrison, et al. “Building Supreme Courts.” Pathways to the US Supreme Court,
2013, pp. 7–46., doi:10.1057/9781137351722_2.
