[PLUG-TALK] Legal vs illegal, or, the justice system in Ameri ca.

Jeme A Brelin jeme at brelin.net
Tue Mar 26 00:29:29 UTC 2002


On Mon, 25 Mar 2002, Craighead, Scot D wrote:
> Our justice system is extremely broken and there is no fix in sight.  

No doubt that things are broken and need some serious tweaking.  I think
the essential framework is pretty good, but we've backslid on some details
of implementation and, of course, diligence.

> I really believe it is because judges are appointed for life.

I really believe it is because public servants are allowed to also hold
private interests.  Many judges were once corporate attorneys or have
children in private practice.  Makes for some very messy conflicts of
interest.

> Once appointed, they have no accountability to anyone. They can do
> anything and no one can do anything about it.  They are royalty.

That's simply not true.  Judges can be impeached.  Supreme Court Justices
can be impeached by the House and tried by the Senate.  That's how we are
supposed to execute the will of the people by proxy.

> I grew up in Nevada were all judges have to be elected every few
> years.  You would be amazed at how differently they operate there.

Do the judges actually run races that have real opposition?

In my experience, election of judges works like this:

Current administration picks, for one reason or another (rarely ideology,
though, usually for one side of a favor or the other or to help out an old
friend), someone to hold a judgeship.  The old-boy network that is
jurisprudence is told who the chosen one shall be.  Running against the
chosen one will result in legal blackballing.  Since anyone hoping to run
for a judgeship is very likely practicing law or involved in law, running
against the delegated and losing would ultimately mean never winning
another case.  The appellate judges, after all, were all elected by that
system and desire to protect it.

Next time an election comes, note the judge positions.  Rarely do they run
opposed and when they do, the opposition (usually clearly the underdog) is
always in a position to retire should the election bid fail.

Direct election of judges doesn't solve the problem.

Oh, and by the way, Nevada has one of the most corrupt governments in the
Union.  The power wielded there by organized crime (and the entertainment
industry giants, if I need to separate the two) is supreme.

J.
-- 
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     Jeme A Brelin
    jeme at brelin.net
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