At a seminar on judicial independence, arranged by the American Bar Association, the judges agreed that Americans must know that bare- knuckled politics endanger the courts' independence and impartiality. But the 2-day session ended Saturday with no consensus on how to convey the message. Moderating a later panel discussion, Breyer sounded a similar theme. Ultimately, our institutions rest on what hundreds of millions of people in this country think. American Bar Association President Philip Anderson, a Little Rock lawyer, has made such education a top priority of his one-year tenure.
Public perception is vital.
The symposium is among several the ABA is sponsoring. After U.S. District Judge Harold Baer refused to let drugs seized by New York City police be used as evidence in a criminal trial, Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole called for his impeachment. White House officials suggested President Clinton would seek Baer's resignation if he did not reverse the ruling. The judge later reversed and allowed use of the evidence. Penny White was voted off the Tennessee Supreme Court after a concerted campaign that focused on the one death penalty case she participated in during her 19-month tenure.