Introduction
Few jurists have been as effective as Judge Sandra Ikuta in upholding our country’s rule of law. For two decades, she has sought to interpret our laws with fidelity to their text and history. True to her job as a circuit judge, she also has insisted on the binding nature of Supreme Court precedent, reminding us that Supreme Court holdings are rules to follow, not mere suggestions to be subverted. We may be tempted to hold in high regard those judges who declare grand visions or innovations in the law in the manner of an enlightened philosopher. Some may even praise the disregard of law for what they perceive as a greater good. But good judges do their jobs by guarding (not transcending) the law. They serve the public best by holding fast to their station, conveying basic principles of our constitutional order entrusted to us by our forebears with a clarity that helps us recover what we may have forgotten.
By that measure, Judge Ikuta stands among the greats. The division between judging and lawmaking is integral to the scheme of separated powers devised by our Founders and upon which our republic was built. With the strength of her formidable intellect, Judge Ikuta has been doing her part to hold up the structure. She has consistently enforced the limits of the judicial role, adhered to the Constitution as understood by the people who ratified it, and read statutes according to their plain meaning—rather than deviate from the text in favor of policy goals. All this she has done patiently, in case after case, as one mends fences, without splash or fanfare, without seeking fame or honor; for her, it seems, a duty discharged is its own reward.
Judge Ikuta’s writings evince a fiercely intelligent and independent mind. They combine certain elements that have made her a force on the bench: her razor-like logic cutting through the tangle of arguments; the authorities she convincingly marshals, which leave little to no room for rebuttal; her presentation of the facts so lucid and thorough (for she would know the record cold) that by the time one gets through just the facts, the outcome often presents itself as inevitable. Soon after joining the bench, Judge Ikuta earned a reputation as an honest, hardworking jurist who analyzed arguments with rigor and articulated her holdings with precision. Small wonder that, time and again, her views (often in dissent) have been vindicated by the Supreme Court.
Judge Ikuta’s opinions speak for themselves. What follows is by no means an exhaustive review of her jurisprudence. But a few of her key decisions catalogued here—covering topics such as jurisdiction, constitutional rights, statutory interpretation, civil procedure, and the role of precedent—demonstrates the breadth and quality of her work.
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