NCJ Number
12277
Date Published
1973
Length
47 pages
Annotation
ELECTED AND APPOINTED JUDICIAL SYSTEMS DO NOT DIFFER AS MUCH IN THEIR RESULTS, OR IN THE BEHAVIOR OF VOTERS AND APPOINTEES, AS THE LITERATURE SUGGESTS.
Abstract
NEVERTHELESS, DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO SYSTEMS OF JUDICIAL SELECTION EXIST AND ARE COMPARED IN THIS TREATISE. ELECTED JUDGES SERVING ON THE SAME COURTS AS INTERM-APPOINTED JUDGES DO SEEM TO BE MORE LIBERAL IN THEIR DECISIONS INVOLVING CONSUMERS AND UNIONS. THIS LIBERALISM IS OFFSET TO A DEGREE IN CASES INVOLVING THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF CRIMINAL SUSPECTS, WHERE ELECTED JUDGES APPEAR TO FOLLOW THE CONSERVATIVE TENDENCIES OF THEIR ELECTORS. JUDGES WITH LONG TENURES MORE OFTEN TAKE A LIBERAL STANCE IN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS CASES. THE AUTHOR FOUND VIRTUALLY NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ELECTED AND APPOINTED COURTS ON MEASURES OF PRESTIGE OR TECHNICAL COMPETENCE. COMPARING SELECTION BEHAVIOR, THE STUDY CONCLUDES THAT BOTH ELECTORS AND THOSE APPOINTING JUDGES CONSIDER POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION AND ETHNIC CRITERIA IN THEIR CHOICES. WHILE AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF WHAT KIND OF NOMINEES GET HIGH AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION RATING SHOWS THAT THE ABA DOES NOT INCLUDE A PARTISAN POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE IN ITS RATINGS, IT DOES TEND TO PREFER NON-ACTIVIST BAR ASSOCIATION LEADERS WITH PRIOR COURTROOM EXPERIENCE. THE REPORT CONCLUDES THAT ALTHOUGH THE METHOD OF SELECTION MAY CORRELATE WITH A JUDGE'S ECONOMIC BACKGROUND, AND ALTHOUGH A TERM OF OFFICE MAY RELATE TO THE AMOUNT OF ANTI-CIVIL LIBERTIES PRESSURE TO WHICH HE IS SUBJECTED, NEITHER THE METHOD OF SELECTION NOR THE TERM OF OFFICE SEEMS TO CORRELATE VERY HIGHLY WITH TECHNICAL COMPETENCE, HONESTY, AND OTHER NONIDEOLOGICAL VIRTUES. (SNI ABSTRACT)