On liberty and justice

The selection of judges should not be political and should be a nonpartisan process. Judges should not be influenced by political biases and appointed by elected politicians. To perform their constitutional duty, judges have to answer to the law and the Constitution — not to political pressure.

Depoliticizing the bench is as old as this nation. Alexander Hamilton said, “there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separate from the legislative and executive powers.” If judges had to depend on the executive or legislature to keep their jobs, Hamilton wrote, judges would have “too great a disposition to consult popularity” instead of consulting “the Constitution and the laws,” and we could not expect the “inflexible and uniform adherence to the rights of the Constitution, and of individuals, which we perceive to be indispensable in the courts of justice.”

Governing our nation and administering laws and justice is not a game to be influenced by bias, prejudice, and outside political forces. It should be based on fairness and legal justice. The Constitution and laws of this nation were set up to reduce bribery and corruption out of its political offices and judges. Our democracy and justice cannot survive should such standards be ignored. We need people and judges with a moral compass that desires justice. Until this is done we will never have liberty and justice for all.

JERRY WAYNE DAVIS

Hot Springs