01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 9, 2005

The judiciary in Rhode Island, as in every state, has had some scandals over the years. But the vast majority of jurists and staff members are hard-working, capable and honest.

Moreover, all -- or at least most -- of Rhode Island state government is better than it was 30 years ago. The overall integrity and competence are much improved, as a perusal of The Journal's pages from 20 or 30 years ago will suggest. The public's tolerance for corruption is lower, there is less corruption (and its sometime fellow-traveler patronage), and there is greater transparency.

The news media obtain and publicize more information about wrongdoing; the Internet acts as both a lively transmitter of government information and a venue for vivid commentary; and squads of good-government groups keep politicians, other government officials, and the rest of us on our toes.

Back to the subject of judiciaries: They must be as independent as possible. In our system of separation of powers, you don't want judges captive of either the executive or the legislative branch, lest the rendering of justice be perverted.

Of course, governors and legislatures must deal with judges as part of government work. And in many states, governors nominate judges, and legislatures confirm them.

Most important in this discussion, however, is that legislatures -- at both the state and the federal level -- are the constitutionally designated source of appropriations, for the judiciary and all other parts of government. The governor can make his or her proposals, but legislatures are where the money comes from. Indeed, the majority of states keep the governor's office completely out of the annual process that creates judicial budgets.

Thus, that the Rhode Island General Assembly last year tacked on to the state budget a proviso to prevent the governor from amending the judiciary's annual budget request seems more an embrace of separation of powers than a rejection of it.

Of course, there will never be perfect separation of powers, all human institutions having varying levels of permeability between them. Still, the separation of powers between Rhode Island's judiciary and the two other government branches has worked pretty well.

And, yes, many people with political backgrounds end up as judges. After all, a large number of politicians are lawyers, since, among other things, governing involves making, enacting and enforcing laws! But most politicians, and judges, are well-meaning and honest. They seek the esteem of the public that comes from honorable service. Indeed, the desire for public approval is a major reason why many get into the relentless privacy-robbing of politics and government in the first place.

Corruption, personal problems and political pressures sometimes come into play -- humans aren't robots -- but all in all, the system works well for the citizenry of Rhode Island. And it promises to continue to do so, regardless of procedural changes involving budgets, and the occasional foibles of politicians and judges.