Judge Selection System in Texas: An Evaluation - Assignment Example

Sur Lecturer Question a) Section Introduction Contrary to the current judges` selection system in Texas; partisan selection (Santos, 48), this paper designs a new system for selecting trial and appellate judges in Texas. The selection system will be merit-based and through a non-partisan and independent commission, chaired by the Texas` Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Leshy, 69). The commission will have 11 members of the public and five lawyers to investigate and evaluate the judicial applicants. The commission is mandated to submit the names of three most highly qualified candidates to the governor of Texas, who then shall make pick one candidate. Section 2: How the Design System Works Judicial applicants must submit their applications through a commission, which consist of mostly public members (Leshy, 37). In the commission, all members assess the applications and scrutinize the applicants qualifications. After this, the commission meets to agree which candidate will be summoned for interview. Prior to the interview, the commission receives any complain, compliment or objection from the public, concerning the selected applicants, for vetting purposes. After the interviews, a closed door meeting is held by the commission to decide which candidates to recommend to the Governor. It shall be made a constitutional requirement for the commissions to submit six names (three names for trial judges and three names for the appellate judges) to the Governor for formal judicial appointment. Consideration will be given to ethnic diversity and gender balance among the six nominees. The primary consideration in this design system is merit - the applicants professional qualifications. Currently, the Constitution provides that part of the nominees for trial and appellate in any given list can be members of similar political party. Once the judges are appointed, there will be a periodic retention election, which means the voters will decide if they go on with their job on the bench or go home. With significant input from litigants, court staff, attorneys, and jurors, Judicial Performance Review Commission evaluates the performance of every judge to ascertain whether he or she has been meeting judicial performance set standards. The information regarding the retention assessment is then made public by the commission before the retention election. Individual judges will only be allowed to continue serving if they get authorization by the majority of voters. Section 3: Public Input The current judge’s selection system in Texas robes the citizens of power and democratic right. As a remedy to this flaw, the design will allow strong public involvement in the process hence rendering it a democratic process. a) Public members constitute the majority of each judicial nominating commission (both trial and appellate judges); 10 public members. b) The public may attend all the hearings of the nominating commissions in which judicial applicants are interviewed and members of the commission vote. c) The public has a huge voice in the assessment of judges through judicial performance review process. Witnesses, court staff, jurors, visitors and litigants who have seen the judge at work get a survey to assist evaluate the performance of the judge. d) The power to retain or remove judges from the office during retention elections is with the voters. Section 4: Balance and Accountability To eliminate the flaws resulting from accountability issues, the design allows many checks and balances to ensure accountability: a) The Constitution mandates the Judicial Performance Review (JPR) commission to give clear and correct reports to the public concerning how well the judges are performing their jobs. The report is issued before every general election. b) The performance assessment process by JPR consists of surveys of witnesses, litigants, jurors, administrative staff and the attorneys often observe the judge at work. c) The nominating commissions must be balanced in terms of gender, politics, and ethnicity with not more than 50% of the members from any of the three categorizes. d) Members of the selection commissions are appointed by Governor with the Senate confirming the appointments. Section 5: Benefits of the Selection Design Highly qualified judiciary – the selection design provides a high quality class of candidates who are recommended only after a thorough scrutiny by diverse members of commissioners (Neubauer and Stephen, 51). Encourages diversity in judiciary- It will be the constitution`s directive to the commissions to take into account a broad range of diversity by increasing the number of women and minorities appointed to the judiciary (Statsky, 72). Public accountability – Most of the system design steps incorporates the public`s input; the public selects the judges and make decisions on whether they performed good enough to retain their jobs (Binder and Forrest, 46) The Judicial Performance Review also includes the public in its evaluation system and discloses the final assessment results to the public.  Question b) i. Qualification for a Trial judge The following qualifications apply to the position of a Trial Judge; The person must have been in general practice, particularly in courts of justice for at least 8 years. This qualification ensures the candidate has at least some considerable experience. The person must have certifications from the Members of the Judiciary and affidavits of four reputable persons; this qualification ensures there is no objection aimed at the applicant (Lee and William, 102). The Commission expects the candidate to submit to the Commission certifications or testimonials from reputable government officials or non-governmental organizations, clearances from the courts, the police, National Bureau of Investigation, and from any other agencies as the Commission may require. This step help verify the records of the applicant regarding his or her reputation for integrity, honesty, irreproachable conduct, incorruptibility, ethical standards, and fidelity to sound moral. No person will be appointed as a Trial Judge in Texas Court or any collegiate court unless he or she is natural citizen of the US. The qualification is intended to shield foreigners from becoming judges in Texas. ii. Qualification for appellate Judges In addition to qualifications in (i), the following qualification also apply to Appellate Judge No person shall be nominated as Appellate Judge in Texas court unless he or she is at least forty five years of age. This qualification targets to shield single applicants and only give married candidates a chance. Married candidates are more responsible than single candidates. The person must have also been a judge of any other court for fourteen years or more or must have engaged in law practice in the Texas. This qualification guarantees the Commission experienced applicants. Work Cited Binder, Sarah A, and Forrest Maltzman. Advice & Dissent: The Struggle to Shape the Federal Judiciary. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press, 2009. Internet resource. Lee, Barbara A, and William A. Kaplin. The Law of Higher Education. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass, 2013. Internet resource. Leshy, John D. The Arizona State Constitution. , 2013. Print. Neubauer, David W, and Stephen S. Meinhold. Judicial Process: Law, Courts, and Politics in the United States. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. Santos, Adolfo. American Government and Politics Today. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth, 2011. Print. Statsky, William P. Essentials of Paralegalism. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Read More