Judicial Reform Quotes
Webster had been a lawyer his entire professional life and served as a distinguished Federal Judge and later as Director of the CIA and FBI. He was a stickler for adhering to the law. Casey, in contrast, was very frequently trying to get around any legal or Constitutional restrictions that might prevent him from doing what he liked. Since most of the CIA activity is secret and not amenable to oversight, his violations were not known to Congress and the public until years after his service.
Thompson sailed into Phnom Phen in a gunboat. With armed “bodyguards” he forced his way into the palace, manhandled the king’s secretary who tried to prevent him from seeing King Norodom, and presented the treaty to the king who signed it. Cambodia had sought French “protection” from the two great powers adjacent, Vietnam and Thailand—see {601401}. In addition to the pressure of the two large neighbors, Norodum’s government was extremely weak and the French were ready to back a rival Sisowath. One of the ironies of this egregious example of gunboat diplomacy is that one of the first things the French did under the clause was to abolish Cambodian slavery. There were a few good things that occurred with most colonialism. The argument has always been was the good worth the bad that inevitably came with an undemocratic form of government.
The comment was prompted by FDR’s attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court.
This was before the Iranian Revolution and the Government of the Shah was attempting to modernize and allow any Iranian citizen who was otherwise qualified to be judges including women and people of other religions.
Presidential dissatisfaction with the judiciary is an old and common problem.
After WWII there was much focus on the Military Justice System which was much in need of reform and modernization.
She was particularly critical of some of the current conservative politicians who were advocating retaliation against the judiciary because judicial decisions thwarted some of their fundamentalist preferences and preferred policies.
