Cuts threaten the judiciary's independence.

"By the way, welcome to Clearwater."

Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Robert J. Morris, Jr., closed his remarks to the Bar Board of Governors with those words in a slightly ironic tone.

Morris was on the board's July 25 meeting agenda under the rather innocuous description as welcoming the governors to the Sixth Circuit.

But before dispensing with that perfunctory duty, the judge delivered a rousing call for preserving judicial independence, which he said is being undermined--perhaps deliberately--by budget cuts imposed by the Legislature. He received a standing ovation from the board.

"The judicial branch was set up so judges could make hard decisions without fear of reprisal," Morris said. "The courts were designed to be the last bulwark against tyranny. For the courts to protect the people, they need the people to protect them from the other two branches of government by a constitutional amendment to guarantee minimal funding."

He began his talk by noting that an independent judiciary is a core value of the country. Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence criticized King George III for obstructing the administration of justice and making judges dependent on his will alone. Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist Paper No. 78, wrote compellingly on the need for an independent judiciary capable of making unpopular decisions, because only then can judges prevent attacks on freedom.

But despite those founding ambitions, the courts and judges have been the subject of many attacks over the years and attempts to bend the courts to the political will of the other two branches of government--including, Morris noted, an attack by Jefferson when he was president on a sitting Supreme Court justice.

"Financially strangling the judiciary is just another way to achieve that goal," he said, adding that the administration of former Gov. Jeb Bush was open about attempts to influence the judiciary.

As an example, he noted the tremendous pressure brought on Sixth Circuit Judge George Greer, who presided over the Terry Schiavo case. That case saw the Florida Legislature and Gov. Bush, and then Congress and President Bush, pass and sign legislation to overturn court rulings, only to have those bills tossed out as unconstitutional infringements on judicial powers.

With recent state budget decisions, legislators have another way to undermine courts, he said. Many legislators, Morris said, have been very staunch supporters of the third branch, but others have...