Peabody ’91 Edits New Study of Judicial Independence

Bruce Peabody ’91, a constitutional law scholar at Fairleigh Dickinson University, is the editor and one of the authors of The Politics of Judicial Independence (Johns Hopkins University Press), a new volume that gathers together a range of scholars and experts to chart and explore the importance of criticisms of courts and judges—in the United States and abroad.

While contributors consider attacks against the judiciary over the past four decades, several of them are especially interested in court critiques (and their implications for judicial independence) in the 21st century. The judiciary in the United States has been subject in recent years to increasingly vocal, aggressive criticism by media members, activists, and public officials at the federal, state, and local level.

This collection probes whether these attacks as well as proposals for reform represent threats to judicial independence or the normal, even healthy, operation of our political system.