Oct. 1, 2013 — This past week, the Rotary Club of Charleston was pleased to share time with United States District Judge Michael Duffy. Judge Duffy is a native Charlestonian and Citadel Graduate. He was appointed to the federal bench in 1995 by Bill Clinton and has worked on significant cases throughout the US.
Judge Duffy helped to shed light and insight into the trials and triumphs of the United States judicial system. He informed us that the United States is highly fortunate to have an independent judicial system. We were reminded that our founding fathers specifically sculpted a system with inherent checks and balances to ensure this critical independence. Judge Duffy also explained that the success of this system resides upon the intrinsic trust of the American people toward our judicial system.
From this unique perspective, Judge Duffy also informed about the ‘creeping dangers’ to this essential branch of US government and society. He let us know that our judicial system is facing several hidden dangers that could undermine this essential aspect of our society.
An interesting nuance is that our judiciary system is the one branch of government that does not have official constituents. Because of this, our judicial system does not have votes like the other branches of government. This particular issue makes our legal system vulnerable to the ‘blame game’ in Washington, particularly from other branches of government. Judge Duffy reminded that attacks and undermining tactics from the political sphere can easily chip away at the public’s inherent trust of this system. Once the public trust is eliminated, we no longer can have a fully functioning judicial system.
Judge Duffy closed by reminding us all that we cannot take for granted our system of government and an independent judiciary. And we cannot allow intrusion from the other branches of government that at times try to undermine this system for their own purposes.
— Submitted by Elinor Averyt, Keyway Committee