Ethics

Is there anything problematic if a judge makes decisions with an eye toward public acclaim?  Phrased more charitably, is there anything wrong if the judge desires to inspire public confidence in the judicial system?  We've now had two US Supreme Court justices, Ginsburg and Kennedy, state that they are concerned with how often foreign courts cite the US Supreme Court.  Your reaction may be based upon how you construe the comments, and they can be construed more or less charitably.  Kennedy's bothered me more than Ginsburg's.

The Ginsburg quote is:

The Canadian Supreme Court, she said, is ?probably cited more widely abroad than the U.S. Supreme Court.? There is one reason for that, she said: ?You will not be listened to if you don?t listen to others.?

The NYT article dealing with Kennedy's embrace of international law is here.  The quote that caught my attention is this one:

?The European courts, in particular the transnational courts, have been somewhat concerned, and some feel demeaned, that we did not cite their decisions with more regularity,? he said. ?They cite ours all the time. And, basically, they were saying, ?Why should we cite yours if you don?t cite ours?? ? He went on, ?If we are asking the rest of the world to adopt our idea of freedom, it does seem to me that there may be some mutuality there, that other nations and other peoples can define and interpret freedom in a way that?s at least instructive to us.?