William Penn and the Origins of Judicial Tenure During Good Behavior

Abstract:     
Scholars typically trace the origins of judicial tenure during good behavior to the 1701 British Act of Settlement. This article, published as the lead article in the July 2012 issue of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, maintains that William Penn anticipated by two decades, in organic laws in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the 1701 Act on the importance of this most famous of all institutional solutions to the political theory of an independent judiciary. The article concludes that Penn’s call for judicial tenure during good behavior owes much to his celebrated commitment to liberty.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 20

Keywords: William Penn, judicial independence, tenure during good behavior, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Article III of the U.S. Constitution

Accepted Paper Series