Melissa Hinton

CJUS 2050
8.1 Forum
Name the three major ways judges are selected in the United States.
A. Appointed by executives
a. President and Senate have a voice in the selection process
i. Search for qualified lawyers by consulting party leaders of the state in which the
vacancy has occurred, campaign supporters, U.S. senators, and prominent
members of the bar.
1. Initial screening normally takes a year or longer
b. After nomination has been made, the process shifts to the Senate.
i. Hearing by Senate Judiciary Committee
ii. May influence selections through the informal power of senatorial courtesy
iii. Senators expect to be consulted before a presidential nomination
1. They may either recommend or veto over a person
c. The belong to the presidents party, and have often been active in politics
B. Elected by voters
a. Approximately 30 states use elections to select some of their judges
b. Due to mutual attacks on the opposing candidates, judicial elections can be very costly.
C. Appointed through a merit selection process
a. Voters are unable to know which lawyers would make good judges
b. Is popular because it causes judge to decide cases in a popular manner
c. Other elements
i. Gubernatorial appointment
ii. Popular election
iii. Citizen involvement
iv. Formalized role of legal profession
d. States chief executive makes the final decision but is limited to choosing from those
nominated by the commission
e. Need 70% of the vote in order to stay on the bench
f. Most states use this system on some level of their state court system