Why State Judges Should Be Appointed Or Elected?

In Nevada, in contrast, the State Supreme Court uses a “staggered” system in order to appoint their judges. The judges are selected not by presidential appointment but by “qualified electors of the State at the general election,” and are only allowed to hold their office for a limited period of years. Furthermore, the Chief Justice is only allowed to maintain their post for six years, thus reducing the opportunity to shape the direction of the state’s laws throughout the remainder of their lives.

Texas court structure essay #1 The state of Texas has a five level court structure system, each court handles different cases some overlapping. The five levels include trial courts or small claims, county courts, district courts, court of appeals, and Supreme Court. The first court we will discuss is the trial court, this court is the lowest on the five level structure and it only deals with small claims of 10,000 or less usually no attorney is needed. The next lowest court is the county court.

In Texas, we elect our judges through a partisan election. A partisan election is in which a party label appears on the ballot. Only six states, including Texas, elect justices in a partisan race. Many critics have claimed that a partisan election for judges have more negatives than positives. Due to their affiliation with a party, they are not fair and biased. However in most cases, these judges are consistent and accountable.

When selecting judges in Texas many first get their start when they are initially appointed by the Texas governor. Though this usually happens to fill up any vacancies that there may be on the bench (Champagne and Harpham 257). Aside from being appointed by the governor, most judges in Texas get selected to serve by Texas voters. These elections are known as partisan elections, meaning that the judicial candidates’ political affiliation is listed on the ballot. Party affiliation is one of the most important factors in judicial elections. Before 1978, most judges were Democrats due to the state being largely Democratic. In addition, the governor of the state was usually a Democrat and would usually end up appointing Democratic judges (Champagne

In the State of Texas, we have a rather odd way of selecting which judges will and will not be able to have a job in the State of Texas. The way we select them is the same way that we decide who is going to be the governor of the State of Texas, we elected them. There are many flaws with choosing election as the way of picking who will be judges. Some of the flaws are that there will possibly be a lack of minority chosen, voters tend to know little to none information about the local election let alone the candidates up for judges, and finally people contributing to campaigns. While few people know that this how we elected judges in Texas, but even fewer realize the consequences the will continue to pile up if we do not do something to put an end to this ludicrous way of choosing an influential position of office.

The structure of the state and local Texas court system is responsible for securing liberty and equality under the law, very similar to the goals of the federal courts. In Texas judges are elected to go into office. The highest level of court in Texas is known as the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Supreme court “is the highest civil court in Texas; consists of nine justices and has final state appellate authority over civil cases” (pg.249) The requirements for being a Texas supreme court justice is; must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of Texas, be at least 35 years of age, and have been practicing lawyer or judge for at least 10 years. It is very often that before cases make it to the Supreme Court or the Court of criminal

I think judges should be decided by partisan vote. They are very high in rank and should be on the ballot when the governor or senators are being elected. This would be like killing two birds with one stone and it would probably cost less. As a result time and money would be saved. That is why I think they should be decided by

NPR’s legal affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg, described a “horrible political storm” brewing over the Supreme Court of the United States (“CNN,” 2016, p. 1). While reporting for CNN, Totenberg used these words to draw attention to the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia in an era of modern politics in which the court has become more polarized than ever. The Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, is not only being severely impacted by partisan ties, but is now also deciding cases according to these biased beliefs. The Democratic and Republican parties, after corrupting and encroaching upon the federal judiciary, have made court nominations and rulings into a game of party politics, inevitably destroying the impartiality of the

When Texas became a state in 1845, judges were appointed by the governor with state consent, but in but since 1876, judges at all levels of courts have been elected by the

In 1822, Stephen F. Austin established one of the first courts in Texas and appointed a provisional justice of peace. Since Texas was a part of Mexico at the time, the Mexican governor replaced the justice of peace with three elected officials. (Utexas) Soon after Independence, the republic of Texas under the 1836 Constitution, established a supreme court and allowed Congress to create inferior courts. Judges in such courts were to be elected by Congress. Counties, at the time, had County and Justice of Peace courts, whose judges were popularly elected. With the entrance of Texas into the Union and the adoption of numerous constitutions during the period, Texas retained a similar judicial structure. The current 1876 Constitution created a

The first part of this essay will provide a brief insight into the history of the Supreme Court, the original intentions of the founding fathers and a discussion on how they idealized the relationship between politics and the law. The second section will explore how the contemporary process to which judges are appointed has become significantly influenced by politics. The third section will discuss how the Supreme Court overstepped its boundaries on constitutional interpretation in the Roe v. Wade case. The final section will unpack the importance of partisanship and ideological politics and discuss how it impacts the function of the Justices in their

The Texas court system has two types of courts. Texas has trial courts and appellate

The judicial selection process can be complicated at times, and different states have different stipulations as to what needs to be required to be a judge. In recent years, proposals have been introduced by legislators, governors, courts, and citizens' groups in nearly every state to limit the role of politics in the selection of state judges (global reach com, 2016). In numerous states, there is more than one method used when it comes to selecting a judge. The judicial process in the state of Alabama requires special schooling and obligations to become a judge. Judges in Alabama are selected in the partisan balloting (globalreachcom, 2016). The Alabama Constitution implements necessary qualifications before an individual is selected to be a judge.

The Texas judicial system has been called one of the most complex in the United States, if not the world. It features five layers of courts, several instances of overlapping jurisdiction, and a bifurcated appellate system at the top level. The structure of the system is laid out in Article 5 of the Texas Constitution.

.tx.us/AboutCourt.htm). It is not allowed to hear criminal cases. These cases are the responsibility of the Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest state jurisdiction for criminal appeals. All cases in which the death penalty has been sentenced, the case is automatically sent to the Court of Criminal Appeals (cca.courts.state.tx.us/). Also, the Court may choose on its own to hear a case. It consists of nine members, a Presiding Judge and eight associate Justices. The judges who serve on appeals courts are collectively known as appellate justices. The Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court is Thomas Phillips (supreme.courts.state.tx.us/justices.htm). The court is comprised of five white males, three white females, and one African-American male (http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/AboutCourt.htm). In addition to the