Associate Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg Has Due Cause for Concern

Let's face it: the watchdog will be looking only at cases that piss off the extremist right. From the wires:

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Tuesday that a Republican proposal in Congress to set up a watchdog over the federal courts is a "really scary idea."

Ginsburg told a gathering of the American Bar Association that lawyers should stick up for judges when they are criticized by congressional leaders.

"My sense now is that the judiciary is under assault in a way that I haven't seen before," she said.

As an example, she mentioned proposals by senior Republicans who want an inspector general to police judges' acceptance of free trips or their possible financial interests with groups that could appear before them.

"It sounds to me very much like the Soviet Union was .... That's a really scary idea," said Ginsburg....

Ginsburg said her confirmation hearings in 1993, and those the following year for Justice
Stephen Breyer, were long but friendly. "That bipartisan spirit has broken down," she said.

Sen. Charles Grassley (news, bio, voting record), R-Iowa, said last week that the judiciary wasn't doing enough policing of itself. His plan would create an inspector general to oversee federal courts including the Supreme Court. The inspector general would be directed to report any judicial misconduct to the Justice Department.