Current Problems Affecting the Judicial Branch of the Government
| Author | William J. Jameson |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295801100323 |
| Date | 01 September 1958 |
| Published date | 01 September 1958 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
713
Pressure
groups
are
active
in
these
ways
because
our
parties
are
semi-
public,
decentralized
arenas
of
compromise.
Pressure
groups
will
continue
to
be
active
in
all
these
ways
because
the
Constitution,
the
diversity
of
our
country,
agreement
on
fundamental
issues,
and
public
regulation
make
our
political
parties
what
they
are.
The
job
of
political
scientists
must
be
better
to
describe
and
understand
parties
and
pressure
groups,
and
the
relationships
among
them,
for
these
relationships
are
intimate,
continuous,
and
normal.
CURRENT
PROBLEMS
AFFECTING
THE
JUDICIAL
BRANCH
OF
THE
GOVERNMENT
(Dinner
Address,
May
3,
1958)
WILLIAM
J.
JAMESON*
*
Judge
of
the
Federal
District
Court
of
Montana.
At
the
outset,
I
should
perhaps
refer
to
the
all-inclusive
title
of
my
ad-
dress,
&dquo;Current
Problems
Affecting
the
Judicial
Branch
of
the
Govern-
ment.&dquo;
When
the
invitation
was
extended
to
participate
in
your
program,
I
suggested
several
topics
within
this
general
area,
including
current
pro-
posals
to
curb
the
power
of
the
Supreme
Court.
President
McFarland and
Professor
Payne
agreed
that
this
subject
would
perhaps
be
of
greatest
in-
terest.
I
confess,
however,
my
own
inclination
as
a
neophyte
judge
was
to
relate
some
of
my
own
experiences
in
the
field
of
judicial
administration.
So,
I
compromised.
I
am
going
to
devote
the
first
twenty
minutes
to
a
more
formal
discussion
of
proposals
relating
to
the
Supreme
Court
and
then
for
a
few
minutes
more
informally
indulge
in
some
personal
experiences
and
ob-
servations
which
I
hope
may
be
of
interest.
I
must
admit
also
that
an
experience
in
another
talk
a
few
weeks
ago
convinces
me
that
interest
in
the
Supreme
Court
currently
transcends
in
the
public
mind
all
other
problems
relating
to
judicial
administration.
On
that
occasion,
I
spoke
more
generally
on
our
judicial
system,
discussing
federal
and
state
jurisdiction,
selection
and
tenure
of
judges,
proposals
to
relieve
the
delay
and
congestion
in
our
courts,
simplification
of
procedures,
and
modern
trends
in
sentencing
and
probation.
This
was
followed
by
a
ques-
tion
period
which
took
twice
as
long
as
the
more
formal
talk.
With
few
ex-
ceptions,
however,
the
questions
were
not
directed
to
the
subject
of
my
re-
marks.
Perhaps
they
are
best
typified
by
the
first
question,
&dquo;Do
you
think
the
Supreme
Court
today
is
deciding
cases
more
on
sociological
than
legal
grounds?&dquo;
Most
of
the
questions
involved
broad
and
fundamental
princi-
ples
of
government
-
the
right
of
the
Supreme
Court
to
declare
invalid
acts
of
Congress
and
of
the
various
states,
whether
the
primary
function
of
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