Hello, friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center,

and welcome to We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate. The National Constitution

Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit, chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the

Constitution among the American people. This week, the National Constitution Center hosted the Federal Judges Association

for a conversation about judicial independence and the rule of law.

It was an honor to talk with Judge J. Michelle Childs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Judge M. Margaret McEwen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,

Judge Beth Bloom of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, and Judge M. Margaret McEwen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Judge Beth Bloom,

of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, and Judge Stephen Arbaugh, of the

U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri.

In this conversation, we explored why judicial independence matters and the importance

of civic education in maintaining the rule of law.

Enjoy the show.

Judge Childs, it's such an honor and a pleasure to welcome you to the NCC.

You are an eloquent defender of judicial independence.

You just gave a talk yesterday at the Robert Jackson Center about its importance.

Why is it important for the FJA to talk about judicial independence and give us a sense of what you said at the Jackson Center about

judicial independence? Why is it important?

Well, first, let me thank you all for this opportunity for the Federal Judges Association to actually be here at the National Constitution Center.

We are actually holding our meeting this weekend in conjunction with the center.

So thank you so much for the opportunity for this space.

The Federal Judges Association was founded in the 1980s, and we were founded on issues related to threats to judicial independence,

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