The attorney general is chief of the prosecution arm of the government. It should not be dictating to the judicial arm what the judicial arm should do.
We should wonder if we would clear up such a conflict of interest if we were to utilize the options provided by the Constitution. The Constitution gives the president authority to nominate judges to the Supreme Court, but that authority extends no further than to the Supreme Court. It does give Congress authority "To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court." But, it also gives Congress the option of allowing the Courts of Law to make their own appointments.
If we were to utilize this provision, and allow the Supreme Court to make the appointments to inferior federal courts, it would provide more independence for the judicial branch from the other two branches of our government, the independence of which is important in a checks-and-balances system of government. Also, giving the judicial branch more independence and removing it from the hands of the other two branches would go a long ways towards removing politics from our judicial system, an achievement that is vital if we are to provide a fair and equitable system of justice.
So, the thought that President Trump and Attorney General William Barr have any authority over the court system is in error. It is an error that seems to be creeping into our system under the President. The President has claimed he is the chief law enforcement officer in the land and the seemed meaning behind that comment was that he has authority to dictate how the courts are ran. There have also been those who have suggested William Barr has some authority over the courts. That, too, is in error.
We should do everything we can to ensure the independence of the courts, and allowing them to make their own appointments would go a long ways in helping to make that independence clear.
Blog edited, corrected, altered, and extended 5/22/20.
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