Regaining the Public Trust: How Transparency & Ethics Can Save the U.S Supreme Court From Its Legitimacy Crisis

Randy Goldson, Winner of PMC's 2024 Law Student Writing Competition

One afternoon my Contracts professor had a memorable Socrates-like moment. For about ten minutes, he probed the class into why judicial decisions have power. The class floated several responses to see which one matched the answer the professor had in mind. After several unsatisfactory responses, he told us that the power of judicial opinions lies in the fact that they are rational. The answer struck me as odd. But on deeper reflection, it started to make sense. Judges explain their decisions to assure litigants, advocates, and the public that they have logically interpreted and applied the law to the facts. However, this notion of a well-written, reasoned decision can also serve as a shorthand for other judicial values such as independence, integrity, impartiality, apoliticality, and consistency.1 The judiciary’s power does not come from words alone2 but also from the judges’ conduct.3

Judicial conduct that adheres to the values of independence, impartiality, and integrity signals to the public that we can trust the courts and have confidence in their decisions.4 The implication of eroding public trust and confidence in the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and its decisions is not so much about the Court’s judicial opinions losing rationality or persuasive value. Instead, it concerns how the justices’ conduct, conflicts, and compromises undermine their credibility as impartial and ethical decision-makers and threaten the Court’s legitimacy. While favorable public opinion of the Court is at a historic low and a legitimacy crisis brews, the Court and Congress can take practical steps to restore public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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