In rare public comments, New Orleans federal judges say U.S. court system is under threat

Surging threats of violence, criticisms from public officials and eroding confidence in the judicial process pose rising threats to the independence of U.S. courts, three federal judges said in a wide-ranging discussion in New Orleans last week.

Courts' lack of enforcement tools has laid bare their reliance on constitutional traditions and public trust for orders to be followed, one of the judges said.

"We have no form, no method of enforcement beyond our constitutional norms," said U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo of the Eastern District of Louisiana. "Unless we have the trust of the populace, we find ourselves on the path to totalitarianism."

The panel hosted by New Orleans' Federal Bar Association on Friday, titled "Challenges to Judicial Independence," prompted unusually