Judicial reform.

In the April 1 News, a letter was published from Michel Galex of Coral Gables lamenting recent discussions within the Legislature to reform our judiciary. I, too, lament the politicizing of the judiciary, but wonder if the cause of the recent foment is not failings of the Bar.

Bar members unanimously agree a judiciary divorced from partisan politics is necessary. Such divorce is necessary for litigants to trust they will receive an impartial hearing.

A few years ago, the party out of power sought through citizen initiative to move redistricting from the legislative branch to the judiciary. They promised us politics would be removed from the process of redistricting political districts. The measure was adopted. The pitch was thrown, and the Bar didn't swing.

Politics was not removed from redistricting. The partisan politics of redistricting was merely moved from legislative chambers to judicial chambers. The Bar did not speak out against a measure sure to impel the judiciary into politically partisan disputes.

The Bar is the steward of the law and the legal system. Judges are now subject to negotiating with the Legislature, tacitly or otherwise. If the judiciary wishes a pay raise, more judges, better funding, then they need to play ball. Don't want to play...