THE IMPORTANCE OF AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY

We should only have judges who are fair, independent, and committed to protecting our individual rights and freedoms. And, those judges need to be able to make decisions in an environment that not only respects that, but isn't hostile toward them.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke about the current dangers to the independence of the judiciary and how the freedoms of all Americans are in jeopardy. NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on her speech at Georgetown University. For a transcript of the full NPR story, click here.

The National Women's Law Center reports about this as well as death threats received by both Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and O'Connor because of their referring to foreign law in opinions they have written on the Supreme Court.