"Reality Check"

That's the title of today's DJ column by Justice Hoffstadt, which provides a great civics lesson as well as useful citations to various doctrines, and trenchant observations.

The U.S. Supreme Court has long observed that, of "the three great branches" of government -- legislative, executive and judicial -- the judicial is "the weakest."



doctrines and practices work together to ensure the courts' decisions are also grounded in a consistent, legal reality.

In other words, to the extent one believes that government decision-making should be grounded in reason and reality, the judiciary's greatest and most inherent weakness may also end up being one of its greatest strengths.