Federal appeals judge tells fellow judges 'to get over themselves'
Judge James C. Ho of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans. (Photo from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans)
A federal appeals judge on Monday blasted fellow judges, claiming that too many of them "have an overinflated view of their intelligence and their abilities," and they ought "to get over themselves."
In an opinion piece published Monday by the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Judge James C. Ho of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at New Orleans wrote that he was “tired of hearing judges today complain about threats to judicial independence.”
“These judges need to get over themselves,” Ho wrote.
Ho asserted that judges complaining about a crisis over judicial independence are “really championing” judicial supremacy.
“What we’re really seeing in the judiciary is not principle but arrogance,” he wrote.
“Too many judges think that they’re better than other people,” he wrote. “Too many judges have an overinflated view of their intelligence and their abilities. Too many judges think they know politics—when they don’t. Too many judges think they know national security—when they don’t. In short, too many judges have forgotten the virtue and value of humility. And I think a big part of the blame goes to the notion of judicial supremacy.”
Ho asserted that the judiciary is not equal to the executive and legislative branches but has a more limited role.
“The American people expect judges to use our independence to follow the law—nothing more, nothing less,” he wrote.
Ho claimed that judges were succumbing to “elite cultural pressures.”
“As judges, we all know that we will get much less pushback if we rule for a corporation or against the administrative state than if we rule against the elites in the culture wars,” Ho wrote.
Ho was appointed to the 5th Circuit by President Donald Trump during his first term in 2017.
Ho ended the opinion piece with a warning to fellow jurists.
“If you want respect, you need to earn it,” he wrote. “If you want to be trusted as a judge, then you need to act like one. If you act like a Denny’s, then don’t be surprised if everyone starts treating you like one.”
Law360 had coverage.
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