Editing Judicial independence (section)

===United States===
====Federal courts====
[[Article Three of the United States Constitution|Article III]] of the [[United States Constitution]] establishes the [[United States federal courts|federal courts]] as part of the [[federal government of the United States|federal government]].

The Constitution provides that [[United States federal judge|federal judges]], including judges of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], are appointed by the [[President of the United States|President]] "by and with the [[advice and consent]] of the [[United States Senate|Senate]]". Once appointed, federal judges:

{{quote|...both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.}}

Federal judges vacate office only upon death, resignation, or [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeachment and removal from office]] by [[United States Congress|Congress]]; only 13 federal judges have ever been impeached. The phrase "during good behavior" predates the Declaration of Independence. [[John Adams]] equated it with ''[[Wikt:quamdiu se bene gesserint|quamdiu se bene gesserint]]'' in a letter to the [[Boston Gazette]] published on 11 January 1773,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Works of John Adams, Vol 3|last=Adams|first=John|year=1851|publisher=Little and Brown|place=Boston|page=522}}</ref> a phrase that first appeared in section 3 of the [[Act of Settlement 1701]] in England.

The President is free to appoint any person to the federal bench, yet typically he consults with the [[American Bar Association]], whose Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rates each nominee "Well Qualified", "Qualified" or "Not Qualified".

====State courts====
[[State court (United States)|State courts]] deal with independence of the judiciary in many ways, and several forms of judicial selection are used for both [[trial court]]s and [[appellate court]]s (including [[state supreme court]]s), varying between states and sometimes within states. In some [[U.S. state|states]], judges are elected (sometime on a partisan ballot, other times on a [[Non-partisan democracy|nonpartisan]] one), while in others they are appointed by the [[Governor (United States)|governor]] or [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]].

The 2000 case of ''[[Bush v. Gore]]'', in which a majority of the Supreme Court, including some appointees of President [[George H. W. Bush]], overruled challenges to the election of [[George W. Bush]] then pending in the [[Florida Supreme Court]], whose members had all been appointed by Democratic governors, is seen by many as reinforcing the need for judicial independence, both with regard to the Florida Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. This case has increased focus and attention on judicial outcomes as opposed to the traditional focus on judicial qualifications.