Replies

Replies

1- I believe that impartiality in our Judicial Branch is an achievable goal. Impartiality is nothing new for us, going back to 399 B.C. Socrates indicated that “Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially."-Franklin Pierce.

I believe that judges are in tough decisions at all times they have huge decisions to make on criminals who have attacked others or have been attacked they must put all feelings aside and judge fairly. Judges are prepared people who have decided to dedicate their life to this profession for the right to society and the nation they cant judge based on sympathy to their race. During Donald Trump president campaign he accused judge curiel overseeing a fraud case against him and accused the judge of being impartial. Judge Curiel is of mexican heritage. "I do not feel that one's heritage makes them incapable of being impartial, but, based on the rulings that I have received in the Trump University civil case, I feel justified in questioning whether I am receiving a fair trial"-NPR.org) were Trump's words. I believe that we can't blame a judge's decision based on his skin color when the mistake one has made has took you to court. I believe that judges are capable of putting their identities aside for the good of the Judicial Branch. I don't think that a judge would be able to get away with biased actions against citizens.

2- Unfortunately, I do not believe that total impartiality is not an achievable goal. It’s unachievable because each person has, regardless of position, biases. Now, although a bias might not be easily identifiable by others, it exists within each person.

When selected, judges are sworn in they are required to comply with the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. In Canon 3, it states: “A judge should be faithful to and maintain professional competence in the law…” (uscourts.gov) and should be disqualified from any proceedings if: “The judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding” (uscourts.gov). One would imagine that if the Committee on Codes of Conduct didn’t believe that judges could have biases, then this verbiage wouldn’t have been incorporated into the Codes. It is the judge’s responsibility to serve justice, uphold the law and make fair judgments based off of facts presented. He/she should not make their judgments based off of prejudices, ethnicities, gender, and experiences regardless of the case brought forth in court. Each citizen has a right to a fair and just trial and by bringing their personal feelings into their decision defeats the rights of the person being prosecuted.