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David Koonce
Jizi
UWRT 1104-015
18th of October, 2016

A Question of Judges
The Inquiry QuestionHow does one become a Judge? How does one become a High Court Judge, aside from
the obvious nomination from a governor or president? What path does one take to reach the
Supreme Court of a state or the country?

The Reason for InquiryJudges are some of the most important aspects of the legal and justice systems. As the
name implies, they act in judgement not of people, but of the law. They act to interpret and
understand those laws that have already been set in place, and to determine how it would be best
to apply the law to a certain situation. A judge's decision has the power to change a law, and how
it is utilized, without having to resort to legislative action, which is significantly more difficult. It
is this vocation that I find to be my ultimate goal, and my concurrent hope. I want to progress
from lawyer to judge, and serve upon the bench in order to maintain justice and equality to the
very, very best of my ability. Its something that I am personally very experienced with, as I have
done my own reading and my own learning in the past, in order to perform to the very best of my
ability in numerous mock trials. I want to become a Judge. I want to learn about the paths that

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others have taken, as well as the needed actions that I must take in order to succeed in such a
career. As a result, I want to sit down and discover how others like me have achieved their
success, and how I may be able to do the very same.

The Prior KnowledgeThe Supreme Court is often a forgotten part of the Federal system of Government, due to
the lack of media coverage and controversy. However, the Supreme Court is easily one of the
most important and most powerful of the three branches of government. The Supreme Court can
determine the constitutionality of laws passed by congress, as well as check the way that laws are
being executed and implemented among the states. As such, it becomes quite easy to say that the
Judges of the supreme court are some of the most important and powerful members of the
Federal Government, when the power that is vested in them is considered. It is this power, this
responsibility, that I desire, and I wish to know about, when it comes to the running and
understanding of our justice system. Though there is more to learn, as I go. State Supreme Courts
also have a lot of power on the state level and the laws that are implemented within. Their power
mirrors that of the Federal Courts, though their jurisdiction is limited to only a particular state.
As a result, they are also often forgotten by the public, despite the power that they do have.

Questions for Inquiry

How does one exactly reach such a vaunted position? What political path must be taken?
To what extent and to what age do many of these people take the office? How does one ensure
success when it comes to being nominated and placed into this position? It is far from an easy

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path, all things considered. I want to discover how does one truly become a high court judge.
From a State level, to Federal level, all along the way, however it must be done. I know that there
is a lot of political maneuvering involved, as well as a lot of networking, in order to ensure a
nomination from the governor but just how much? Just how impartial are our judges? To
explore into this career, I must first figure out how to get into it at all, through all of the work that
I may have to put in- no matter what ends up happening.