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Judges

Latonya Brown

CJS/220

May 23, 2010

Mr. Anthony Gordon

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Judges today uphold a great deal of responsibilities in and out of the courtroom. Judges

apply the law and oversee the legal processes in courts; they preside over cases concerning every

aspect of society, from traffic offenses, to disputes over the management of professional sports,

to issues concerning the rights of huge corporations. All judicial workers must ensure that trials

and hearings are conducted fairly and that the court safeguards the legal rights of all parties

involved. The most visible responsibility of judges is presiding over trials or hearings and

listening as attorneys represent their clients. Judges rule on the admissibility of evidence and the

methods of conducting testimony and they may be called on to settle disputes between opposing

attorneys. Also, they ensure that rules and procedures are followed and if unusual circumstances

arise for which standard procedures have not been established, judges interpret the law to

determine how the trial will proceed.

Judges often hold pretrial hearings for cases; they listen to all allegations and determine

whether the evidence presented merits a trial. In criminal cases judges may decide that people

charged with crimes should be held in jail pending trial, or they may set conditions for their

release. In civil cases, judges and magistrates occasionally impose restrictions on the parties

until a trial is held. A judge’s job still continues even outside of the courtroom. Judges work in

their chambers or private offices, there, judges read documents on pleadings and motions,

research legal issues, write opinions, and oversee the courts operations. In some jurisdictions,

judges also manage the court’s administrative and clerical staff. Basically a judge’s duty may

vary according to the extent of their jurisdictions and powers (Bureau of labor Statistics, 2009).

The effectiveness of a judge depends on a lot of things; Personality plays a large part of a

judge’s effectiveness because a judge has powers of discretion which affect not only the person

standing before him/her in a trial but also the courtroom workgroup. The attitude of the judge on
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the bench and in the chambers attributes to the effectiveness. Effective judges holds knowledge,

wisdom, compassion, effective judges are also patient in most cases. An ineffective judge

maybe impatient, prejudice, shows favoritism, and hostile. These types of judges have no

business sitting on the bench, presiding over cases. Judges are human just like anyone else, they

can get impatient or intolerant at times, but all the time is not acceptable. Ineffective judges may

sentence someone to jail or prison because they may not like them or because of the nature of

their case. These are not the type of judges that needs to be sitting on the bench; ineffective

judges may also take bribes.

The impeachment of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase is an example of an

ineffective judge, whose 1805 impeachment was partly an effort by political adversaries to

obliterate a hated adversary. Chase, a highly opinionated Federalists Judge was accused of

judicial misconduct. The accusations included several Democratic- Republican grievances in

trials over which he presided. The charges also accused chase of giving a false legal definition

of treason during the trial of John Fries and of making extreme political comments to a Baltimore

grand jury.

An example of an example effective Supreme court Judge would be Judge Sonia

Sotomayor. She has served as a judge on the United states courts of appeals since October 1998.

She has been hailed as “one of the ablest federal Judges currently sitting” for her thoughtful

opinions and as “a role model of aspiration, discipline, commitment, intellectual prowess and

integrity for her ascent to the federal bench from an upbringing in a south Bronx housing project.

She is an distinguished graduate of two of America’s universities, a big city prosecutor, and a

corporate litigator. She has been promoted to the second circuit by President Clinton, she was

also appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George
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H.W. Bush. With all of her background experience not to mention her being appointed to these

positions by Former U.S. Presidents; there is no doubt that she is/or an effective Supreme Court

Judge (The White House, n.d.).

According to Mayer & Grant (2003), Federal judges who are found to be corrupt can be

removed by the Senate following impeachment by the House of Representatives. State judges

can also be impeached as well, but that is not the only method that is available; not re-electing

the judge is the most common method used. Judges who invoke enough public condemnation

can also be subject to a recall election. Federal judges if suspected of misconduct will be

reprimanded first, or order that no new cases be assigned to the judge for a specific period of

time, or they may be asked to retire if necessary.

Judges are needed every day to preside over cases; society need good judges who will

uphold the law to the fullest and make sure that justice is served properly. Ineffective judges is

not needed, those are the ones who is only concerned about their own selfish wellbeing. Good

judges who really want to make a difference is what this country needs.
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References

Bureau of labor Statistics. (2009). Judges, Magistrates, and other Judicial Workers. Retrieved

from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos272.htm.

Mayer, J.F., & Grant D.R. (2003). The Courts in our Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from

University of Phoenix ebook Collection Database.

The White House. (n.d.). Background on judge Sonia Sotomayor/the White house. Retrieved

from http;//www.whitehouse./gov/background-on-judge-Sonia-Sotomayor.