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MPR News Staff

Humankind documentary: Judicial Independence

A woman walks down steps at the Supreme Court.
A woman walks down the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 15 in Washington, D.C.
Jim Watson | AFP via Getty Images file

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A documentary by David Freudberg of the Humankind series, “Judicial Independence.”

Have our courts – intended by America’s founders to be an independent arbiter of justice – turned into another political battlefield? Are today’s judges mere “politicians in robes?”

The appointment of judges looms large as we head toward Election Day. This program reconstructs the wild history of how we got into this dilemma, which has left bitter feelings on all sides. What effect does this have on the functioning of our democracy?

You will hear archival audio from Antonin Scalia, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Klobuchar, Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan and Justice Hugo Black, who revealed he had been a member of the KKK, plus insights by veteran court-watchers.

This documentary examines crucial flashpoints in recent decades:

  • The bruising nomination hearings for new judges like Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas.

  • The Supreme Court halting an election recount to decide by a one-vote margin who becomes president of the United States.

  • Special interest groups on both sides of the political divide spending millions to influence which judges are selected.

    David Freudberg is executive producer of Humankind. More here: https://www.humanmedia.org/