Wish we didn’t have to say this …
The Knoxville Bar Association has distributed a letter supporting judges and the rule of law.
In lawyer-speak they wrote:
Pursuant to our policy on Meeting Unjust Criticism of the Judicial System, and in keeping with our duties and responsibilities as members of the Bar, the legal profession and the community at large, the Knoxville Bar Association condemns misguided and unjust criticism of our judiciary and mischaracterization of our long‐held democratic principles of co‐equal governance.
Jonathan Cooper
We asked Jonathan Cooper, president of the KBA, who decided to put this out and why.
“There have been too many published reports based on uninformed opinions about judicial decisions,” Cooper said, referring to calls to defund certain courts or impeach judges based on their rulings.
This aligns with a March 18, 2025, statement from Chief Justice John Roberts in response to President Donald Trump calling for the impeachment of James Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Here’s the text of the already introduced impeachment resolution.
In a statement released the same day by the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office, Roberts said “[f]or more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
Cooper said “on this narrow issue,” the KBA executive committee adopted the statement on behalf of the board of governors. The executive committee consists of the president, president-elect, past president, secretary and treasurer. The Knoxville Bar Association has approximately 2,000 members including judges, lawyers, law students and law professors.
The KBA statement notes that the nation was founded on the unique principle that we should be governed by three separate but co-equal branches of government. “In the face of recent challenges to the independence and authority of the judicial branch, the Knoxville Bar Association declares its full support of the American judicial system and for those who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution. Any suggestion that particular rulings justify the impeachment of a judge or the infringement of our legal system not only ignores the wisdom of our nation’s founders but also serves to dangerously erode the public’s confidence in and respect for the Rule of Law.”
It’s a sad note when lawyers have to endorse the law … much like physicians endorsing science or preachers endorsing God.
