Our recent research on judicial elections, published in The Cato Journal, suggests that most of the negative consequences of judicial elections are due to their partisan nature.
Not only does the Constitution deal with matters of great practical significance, but it is very hard to amend, which magnifies the consequences of judicial decisions construing it.
Here, as in his previous book, "Active Liberty" (2005), Breyer places emphasis on statutes and constitutional provisions, the real-world consequences of judicial decisions and the need to apply the Constitution's basic values to changing circumstances.
"Scholar Steals Frankfurter Papers," the political columnist Jack Anderson wrote on September 14, 1973, which is how the public first learned of the heist, and which is also the point at which a story about the ill consequences of judicial secrecy and authorized biography turns into a story about the ill consequences of anonymous sources.
The chief justice said that "by constitutional design," judges had "an institutional commitment to the independent administration of justice and are able to see the consequences of judicial reform proposals that legislative sponsors may not be in a position to see".
In other words, a life story that would allow her to appreciate the consequences of judicial decisions and the causal effects of living in an unequal society.
It then looks at two contentious issues - the outcome of judicial hearings and the consequences of multiple patents on individual drugs.
We find it hard to imagine that Mr. Medvedev — himself a highly qualified legal scholar — would want the consequences of this judicial farce to stand during his tenure as president; it would mock his pledge to rid the country of "legal nihilism".
Although Congress delegates lawmaking authority to both courts and agencies, we know remarkably little about the determinants-and even less about the consequences-of the choice between judicial and administrative process.
Such cases are partially a consequence of the mounting judicial delays that have accompanied shrinking court budgets across the country.
