Judges and Judicial Performance

1. Judicial Process
Judges and Judicial
Performance

2. Requirements to Become a
Judge
 Formal Requirements
 Federal
 None
 State
 Some require judges be lawyers
 Practiced law for a certain period of time
 Minimum ages
 Maximum ages
 Informal Requirements
 Political Qualifications
 Self-selection
 Luck

3. Judges’ Work
 Adjudication – legal process of resolving a
dispute
 Trial judges versus Appellate judges
 Pretrial decisions
 During trial
 Decision on merits
 Negotiation
 Administration

4. The Job of a Judge
 Stresses
 Huge caseloads
 Scrutiny
 Threats
 Compensation
 Attractions
 Freedom
 Power
 Ability to affect policy

5. Quality of Judges
 What makes a good judge?
 Criteria:
 Competence
 Commitment
 Judicial Temperament
 Impartiality
 Methods for Enhancing Quality
 Select Qualified Judges
 Remove Inadequate Judges
 Improve Sitting Judges

6. Removing Inadequate Judges
 Federal
 Article III – “during good behavior”
 Impeachment
 Treason
 Bribery
 High Crimes and Misdemeanors
 How many federal judges have been impeached since
1789?
 13, of which 7 were removed
 Judicial Councils Reform Act and Judicial Conduct and
Disability Act
 Establishes a procedure to lobby a complaint about a judge

7. Removing Inadequate Judges
 Procedure:
 Aggrieved party files a complaint
 Chief judge reviews the charge
 Investigation
 Report to the Council
 Possible punishments
 Exonerated
 Removed
 Public or private reprimand
 Request resignation
 Notify the House of Representative to begin
impeachment proceedings

8. Removing Inadequate Judges
 State Judges
 Mandatory retirement
 Impeachment
 Recall elections
 Concurrent resolutions to dismiss
 State Judicial Commissions

9. Improve Sitting Judges
 Orientation programs
 Continuing education/training
 Warnings from state conduct commissions

10. Main Points
 Judges at all levels perform similar types
of work and possess similar types of
background characteristics
 The way that judges approach their jobs
and the quality of judges varies a great
deal