How can the threats to judicial independence be avoided or countered?
There are a number of ways by which the courts, the bar, and others may work to preserve judicial independence. Methods that have been tried or suggested include: • Holding regular informal meetings between judges and legislators to improve interbranch communication. • Enacting legislation to exclude judicial budgetary appropriations from executive line-item veto. • Limiting legislative curtailment of court jurisdiction. • Having the legislature provide for judicial review of constitutional questions involving administrative, regulatory, and enforcement actions. • Separating legislative pay-increase proposals from judicial pay-increase proposals. • Implementing periodic, automatic cost-of-living adjustments to judicial salaries. • Increasing bar-association efforts to inform the public of procedures for handling complaints against judicial officers. • Educating the public about judicial independence through bar programs and research into causes of the decline in public trust and confid
