Congress formally created the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 24, 1789, along with 13 district courts and three ad hoc circuit courts.

It had been a long 13-year process since the administration of justice and the establishment of judicial powers had been emphasized in the colonial “Dear George” letter on the Fourth of July, 1776.

The British king “has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries,” Thomas Jefferson penned in his list of injuries and usurpations by the crown.

Appellate Justice James A. Knecht of the 4th District reminded those in attendance Oct. 28 at a forum in Bloomington, that judicial independence has been, for 230 years, as essential to popular freedoms as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“Democracy at Stake: Safeguarding an Impartial Judiciary” was conducted by Central Illinois chapters of the League of Women Voters and co-sponsored by bar associations of McLean, Champaign and Peoria Counties.

Knecht pointed out that while citizens have no guarantee of justice in the trial courts, they have equal opportunities to get justice, as well as fair and impartial review in appeals courts.

Judicial decisions are based on the law and the facts, he emphasized, free of personal, political or economic pressures. Rights are respected, and responsibilities are enforced.

People who criticize judicial decisions usually are wading “in the shallow end of the think-tank,” he said.

Using the recently failed South Dakota ballot initiative, Jail4Judges, as an example, Knecht noted that the independence of fair and impartial courts is threatened when governors, presidents or legislatures intimidate the judiciary.

He cited “civic illiteracy” as one reason for citizen unrest that foments such challenges. Judges must explain their decisions, he suggested, to educate the public on the workings of the judicial process.

Knecht cited the cost and content of judicial election campaigns as part of the problem. Huge financial contributions, based only on political ideology, give the appearance that justice may be for sale.

And negative advertisements are more likely to convince people not to vote, he said, rather than to influence them to vote for or against a candidate.

“My name is Jim Knecht, and I approve this message,” he concluded with wry sarcasm.

The next speaker, Edwin Yohnka of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, concurred with Knecht's concerns about far-reaching challenges to judicial independence.

Yohnka added his view that the attacks are not secret or insidious, but within the mainstream of special interests. Rather than accountability, the goal is to win a “war on the courts” at all costs.

These destructive agendas are intended to increase public cynicism and distrust with the judicial system, he said.

Yohnka noted the irony that while terrorists hate Americans because of their freedoms, the government wants to limit judicial independence in matters related to the war on terrorism

He recalled the words of Benjamin Franklin after the Continental Congress adopted the Constitution in September 1787: “You have a republic – if you can keep it.”