It would seem as tho above all other phases of the government the Judiciary should stand for absolute equality. Equity ought to be one of the shining virtues of the Bench, and with this, regard for fundamental law. The fundamental idea of Americanism is that the people shall rule, and the people's will is expressed in the constitution, or bill of rights, in federal and state governments. One of the provisions of the constitution of New York State is that judges may be impeached or removed from their high office, if guilty of malfeasance, by concurrent action of both branches of the legislature, composed of the people's representatives. Recently it has been charged, and seemingly there is no evidence to the contrary, that Judge Hooker, of the Supreme Court, is guilty of malfeasance in office—deplorably so. The state constitution provides a means for his ejection, but now the judges themselves are demanding that he shall be tried by them instead of by the legislature. They are giving us a new interpretation of the expression "tried by a jury of his peers." They seem to think that the judges are a higher class than are legislators, and that the constitution itself should be set aside in their favor. We merely note this to show the tendency of the times. The Supreme Court is only a co-ordinate branch of the government. Behind all these co-ordinate branches are the people, and in the provisions that have been made for the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, no other branch should stand so strongly and faithfully to that constitution as should those who compose the courts of the land. "Judicial prerogatives" and "inherent powers" should be made subject to the constitution and the purity of the court.
