Comments on: Supreme Court Focus of 2008 Election http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/supreme_court_focus_of_2008_election/ Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:56:28 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Dave Schuler http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/supreme_court_focus_of_2008_election/comment-page-1/#comment-440455 Dave Schuler Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:51:30 +0000 http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/?p=24199#comment-440455 There are multiple conflicts about the courts, progressives vs. conservatives being the one you hear most about. More important in my view is the conflict between doing justice and interpreting the law. Is the marked culture of zealous advocacy that prevails in the legal profession nowadays compatible with interpreting the law? I have my doubts. What we're seeing from both liberal and conservatives on the SCOTUS seems to me to be the former: making your decision and then finding legal justification for it. Drawing judges from the ranks of attorneys isn't the only way of organizing such things. In some places lawyers go to law school and judges go to judge school and, with the increasing complexity and resultant specialization of the modern world, I think we should consider reforms of this sort. There are multiple conflicts about the courts, progressives vs. conservatives being the one you hear most about. More important in my view is the conflict between doing justice and interpreting the law.

Is the marked culture of zealous advocacy that prevails in the legal profession nowadays compatible with interpreting the law? I have my doubts. What we're seeing from both liberal and conservatives on the SCOTUS seems to me to be the former: making your decision and then finding legal justification for it.

Drawing judges from the ranks of attorneys isn't the only way of organizing such things. In some places lawyers go to law school and judges go to judge school and, with the increasing complexity and resultant specialization of the modern world, I think we should consider reforms of this sort.

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