Impartiality key when picking judges

by Jeffrey G. Frank and Morris G. Shore
for the Yakima Herald-Republic

Posted by Nick at 07/20/08 07:10AM        Post ID#: #118

Elections of "non-partizan" judges leave too much to chance. They hardly ever "campaign" and it is near to impossible to know how they think in advance of their rulings, making it impossible to choose a judge that may, or may not, make good, consistent, responsible decisions. most judicial elections become a dart-throwing exercise to make the choice. It is too easy to take for granted that because a person is a judge, they are capable of judging. All too untrue, but we never know it until it's too late. There are those who would legislate from the bench, a common thing to do these days. To have an activist judge is not a good thing and there is almost never any oversight organization that can do anything about it when it happens. Frankly, electing a judge, to me, is more important than the President, simply because of the powers invested in the judgeship.

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