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Words of Freedom
The following are selected quotes about independent courts: "There is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control." -Charles, Baron de Montesquieu, France, 1748
"In this distinct and separate existence of the judicial power in a peculiar body of men, nominated indeed, but not removable at pleasure by the Crown, consists one main preservative of the public's liberty which cannot subsist long in any state, unless the administration of justice be in some degree separated both from the legislative and also from the executive power." -Sir William Blackstone, England, 1765
"The dignity and stability of government in all its branches, the morals of the people and every blessing of society depend so much upon an upright and skillful administration of justice, that the judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and executive and independent upon both, that so it may be a check upon both." -Thomas Jefferson, United States, 1776
"The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government." -President George Washington, United States, 1789
"All the rights secured to the citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing, and a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent and virtuous Judiciary." -President Andrew Jackson, United States, 1822
"In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs. " -Walter Lippmann, United States, 1937
"Judicial power comes from the people’s trust and confidence in what judges do and the way they do it." -Associate Justice Alan Page, United States, 2001
"Judicial independence is the indispensable precondition for putting human rights into effect." -Austrian Supreme Court Justice Dr. Ernst Markel, Bahrain, 2003
"The courthouse door must always be open when someone walks through that door. They have to find an independent judiciary." -Senator Barbara Mikulski, United States, 2003 |
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