Earlier this month, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter addressed the American Bar Association at its annual meeting in Chicago and urged that greater attention be paid to instructing Americans in civics. Citing survey results that indicated two-thirds of Americans could not identify the three branches of government, Justice Souter argued that this lack of understanding of fundamental civics has ramifications for judicial independence.
In particular, Souter noted “the risk to constitutional government when a substantial portion of the American populace simply fails to gain that understanding. In particular, I’ll ask you to consider the danger to judicial independence when people have no conception of how the judiciary fits within the constitutional scheme.” Quoting another judge, he reminded the audience that the judiciary is the “safe place” that is essential for American democracy to survive. Drawing on his lessons as a youth attending town meetings in New Hampshire, he lamented the lack of basic understanding of the American system across the country.
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