The State Judicial Selection Process
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Assignment 1: The State Judicial Selection Process
Due Week 5 and worth 200 points
Each state within the United States has its own unique judicial selection process within its own court system.
Using the Internet or Strayer databases, research the judicial selection process for different court systems from different states within the U.S. Court System.
Write a five to eight (5-8) page paper in which you:
Discuss the judicial selection process of your state. Include, at a minimum, the qualifications and steps that are taken in order to select judges for the different kinds of courts within your specific state.
Choose a second state, and describe the qualifications and the selection process for judges within that state.
Compare and contrast for both states the qualifications necessary for a prospective candidate to become a judge. Next, identify the steps that the relevant persons / entities need to take in order to remove a judge from office for disciplinary reasons for each state.
Justify the selection process for the state that you believe has the best system in place. Justify the response.
Use at least three (3) quality academic resources. Note: Wikipedia and other websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Detail the history and organization of the levels of the American court system and the issue of jurisdictional boundaries.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in the criminal court and the judicial process in America.
Write clearly and concisely about the American court system using proper writing mechanics and APA style conventions.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.
The State Judicial Selection Process
Institution
Date
Introduction
The jury serves as a significant organ within the functions of a state in preserving and dispensing the rule of law to the citizens and the inhabitants of America. In order to achieve this and function as per defined by the law, judges are required to interpret the law equitably. Judges are also expected to avoid unjustified political influence (Peppers, Giles, & Tainer-Parkins, 2008). Since the judiciary remains a primary component of any state, the process of selecting judges remains a critical factor in any nation. In 1937, this issue was put across by the American Bar association when its house of delegates agreed to the appropriate merit selection of judges.
In spite of the anxiety of the selection of judges, the lawyers and the bar association should not dwell too much on that process. The decisions made by the judiciary at all levels affect each and every citizen. The ideas of citizens should also be put into consideration in the process of choosing judges in spite of the strong believes that the bar association and their leaders should be on the front position in doing so (Peppers, Giles, & Tainer-Parkins, 2008). After the introduction of the government in the United States, the chief executives were put in charge of appointing the judges. When the ideas of the majority started emerging the responsibility of appointing judges was put into the hands of the citizens who began restricting the terms each judge would serve.
After the criticism of the rapidly growing power of political party leaders in the late nineteenth century, many states began electing their judges independently. Due to the discontent with the partisan politics and its influence on the court, there arose the need for a more extensive change in the twentieth century. Albert Kales, the founder of the American Judicature society invented a new approach of the judicial selection in which a state would form a bipartisan nominating committee including lawyers and laypersons (Peppers, Giles, & Tainer-Parkins, 2008). This charge categorized the more qualified candidates without putting into consideration the political ties for selection by the governor. After that, the governor would assign one of the suggested candidates to the working table. This paper therefore seeks to analyze the selection process of the judiciary system in Georgia among other states with the aim of understanding the selection criteria’s of the jury.
The Judicial Selection of Georgia
The selection of court judges vary widely from state to state and can be categorized into five strategies; nonpartisan, legislative appointment, merit selection, partisan election and executive appointment. Some states prefer using more than one method of appointing judges which differ depending on the court level or the geographical area. If a similar selection method is used in the selection, the process in practice is different. The procedures used to verify whether judges will maintain their seats and their duration in the office is also different in each state (Pfander, the Chief Justice, 2004).
The state of Georgia has a judicial system that is comprised of the Supreme Court, the superior court and the court of appeals that are charged with limited jurisdiction. The executive ordered for the establishment of nominating commissions to advocate for the candidates to fill the vacancies. This was done by the Georgia governors in 1972.Most of the Georgian judges are primarily selected to the worktable compete to maintain their positions. In Georgia, there are two major ways of becoming a judge. The first one is election, where one has to be elected then appointed and lastly reelected.
Elections are not complicated. If the legal necessities required for a judge are met, anybody can succeed and appear on the ballot. In Georgia, the judicial elections are independent and are held on the main Election Day. Appellate judges remain in their seats for six years while others last for four years (Pfander, the Chief Justice, 2004). The citizens of Georgia have the last say and according to them, if anyone wishes to contest for the seat he or she is allowed as long as he meets the credentials that are needed.
However, appointing judges is more complex. The constitution of Georgia states that the judges should be appointed by the governor whenever there is an opportunity. There are three things that can lead to a vacant seat. They may include; death, resignation and removal. Some judges prefer resigning to being eliminated by the Judicial Qualifications Commission. This is the commission put in charge of judicial performance (Pfander, the Chief Justice, 2004). It is made up of the State Bar Commission, members appointed by the governor and the Supreme Court. It handles all the complaints about judges put across by the citizens.
The Judicial Selection Process of Judges in Virginia
The state of Virginia has a judicial system that is composed of the circuit court, the Supreme Court, the district court and the court of appeal. Among these courts, the district court has a limited jurisdiction as compared to the other courts. Virginia remains one of the two states in America in whose the legislative arm has the mandate of selecting its judges. For quite a period now, the Democrats were solely responsible for the selection of judges and for the general assembly (Pfander, the Chief Justice, 2004). Whenever a selection process was nearing, the Democrats would sit behind closed doors to select the favorable candidates who were vetted by the House of Delegates and the senate for the position before approval.