Telephone Justice, Pandering, and Judges Who Speak Out of School

Abstract

This Article addresses the growing influence of outside forces on the judiciary. The Article details four situations in which a judge may feel the pressure of outside forces: confirmation hearings, subsequent political pressure, election campaigns, and situations involving the media. It criticizes the actions taken by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in the Microsoft antitrust case, most notable the numerous public remarks made while the trial was still in progress. The author concludes that judges set the standards for the way law is practiced and must therefore ignore the external pressures and strive to be models of integrity and justice