Judges are modern day royals. Beyond reproach, free from accountability.
In the article by ProPublica, they investigate the role of watchdogs in the federal courts, including the Supreme Court. As some are aware, there is a current outcry over the lavish gifts that certain justices have been enjoying in their non-revocable lifetime appointments. In what branch of our evolutionary tree did the inevitable abuse of power disappear? While one can argue the merits of lifetime appointments in that they lead to less influence from campaign donors and the ability to focus time on the job at hand, to do so without some kind of accountability to trust the key to the sheep pen to the wolves. As ProPublica points out, the watchdog agency is doing nothing more than watching over the public to ensure there is nothing that will hinder the judges’ position. The wolves are running the whole farm, not just holding the keys.
Our legal system is broken. Lawyers and judges have eroded any ability of the public to police them through legal procedures and laws. Self policing does not work. Our local and state level legal bodies are all just as broken, if not more so. Our congress needs to reign this abuse of power in through the creation of non-partisan civil oversight to ensure the bad actors are filtered out accordingly. We cannot simply trust them to police themselves.