A variety of news reports in recent years pertain to state judges making decisions mandating certain public policies and measures within their respective states, thereby appropriating to themselves a legislative function in a manner that co-opts the powers exercised by the elected branches of government.

Under Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution we find: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government . . ."

If Congress were to choose to define the word "republic" to mean: "a political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them" (per The American Heritage Dictionary), then it should be possible for Congress to abolish appointed state judiciaries if it could be shown that there was a propensity for such judiciaries to usurp legislative authority or to use their powers to administer policies and measures that are not mandated by any act of Congress, state law, or municipal ordinance. The states could be required to amend their Constitutions by substituting elected judiciaries for appointed ones.