Increased Politics Surrounding Judicial Political

Total word count: 850

writing requirement:

You work for judicial crisis a nonprofit group charged with preserving judicial integrity. You have been asked to work as a consultant on the current and increased politics surrounding judicial elections and appointments at the state and federal level. You are concerned that the politics around judicial selection will decrease the legitimacy of the courts and will make it far more difficult for courts to 1) act as a check on an oppressive majority and 2) act as a check on the other institutions. Find and analyze TWO advertisements (commercials)–one from a state judicial election and one from a federal judicial appointment. In a blog post analyze the commercials according to the following criteria. 1) What is the commercial saying about the candidate? 2) What is the commercial saying about his or her opponent (if applicable). 3) In what way is the ad political? 4) In your expert opinion, does the ad pose a risk to the legitimacy of the judiciary at either the state or federal level? If so, why? If not, why not? 5) What do you think the founding fathers would say about these kinds of advertisements? 6) Having reviewed these ads, what are your thoughts on the process of selecting judges? Are there things you would keep from the current procedures we have? Are there things you would change?

You will need to do a little research for this blog assignment–including finding and selecting your commercials. There are plenty out there! You should also look into the politics surrounding Obama’s nomination of Garland, the Senate’s response, the ultimate nomination of Gorsuch and the current attempt to fill the Kennedy vacancy–although these will be covered a bit in the lecture. You should also draw on the readings and lectures from class. As with the last blog assignment, please be sure to respond to at least two of your colleagues’ posts–which means watching their commercials, reading what they wrote and then commenting.

PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE A LINK TO EACH OF THE COMMERCIALS.