JUDICIARY Response Papers (due at the beginning of class, April 11)

INSTRUCTIONS: Your response paper should be relatively short: 2-3 pages,
 double-spaced.  You do not have to fret over rules such as how to report
citations or what font size to use.  No folders, plastic covers, or other
enhancements are necessary.

ADVICE: Make sure you answer the question thoughtfully, in an organized way that
shows detailed familiarity with the readings.  If you summarize too much or
take up too much space with quotations, you are unlikely to have written a
good essay.  The emphasis should be on analysis and illustrating your
level of understanding (or your ability to identify clearly and
comprehensively what you do not understand about the readings).

Answer one of the following questions, drawing heavily on the assigned
readings for the topic:

1) The course textbook indicates that judicial appointments have become
politicized.  Yalof provides a detailed set of examples of how this
politicized process works.  Do one of the following:
   (a) Write an essay analyzing whether the politicized approach to
judicial appointments is good or bad for the system, and defend your
answer.
   (b) Write an essay explaining how the politics could be taken out
of the appointment process, based on what you've learned about the judicial
system (as well as about any other features of the political system that
you consider relevant to discuss)

2) Peter Irons discusses the judicial philosophies of both Chief Justice
William Rehnquist and former Justice William Brennan as though Supreme
Court decision making is primarily driven by the fundamental beliefs of
the people who sit on the Court.  Based on what you've learned about the
judicial system, do you agree or disagree with the importance Irons places
on judicial philosophy?