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learningtofly
Ancient Aliens
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Should judges be allowed to run in partisan elections?
#11385265 - 11/04/09 03:58 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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What is your opinion on this?
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Prisoner#1
Even Dumber ThanAdvertized!
Registered: 01/22/03
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Loc: Pvt. Pubfag NutSuck
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Re: Should judges be allowed to run in partisan elections? [Re: learningtofly]
#11385302 - 11/04/09 04:02 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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seems to be the norm
I say execute the judges
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zappaisgod
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Re: Should judges be allowed to run in partisan elections? [Re: learningtofly]
#11385324 - 11/04/09 04:03 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm not entirely clear what you think the issue is. Are you saying judges should not be members of a political party?
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learningtofly
Ancient Aliens
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Re: Should judges be allowed to run in partisan elections? [Re: zappaisgod]
#11385517 - 11/04/09 04:28 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I should rephrase my original question to include running tough-on-crime campaigns.
Quote:
Elected judges often run “tough on crime” campaigns, which raises concerns that they will be biased against criminal defendants once on the bench. Indeed, studies show that elected judges give harsher punishments to criminal defendants as elec- tions near. Nevertheless, in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, the Supreme Court found that an elected judge can still be considered impartial even if he knows that his decisions throughout a case might affect his job security. This Note argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in White failed to account for a key factor com- plicating the election of unbiased judges: media coverage of crime and elections. The media dynamics at work in elections and the particular way judges respond to them may lead to criminal cases being heard by judges who are biased against defendants. To correct this problem, states must affirmatively act to protect crim- inal defendants’ right to a fair trial by adopting broad recusal requirements. States must change their codes of judicial conduct to allow for mandatory recusal of judges who run tough-on-crime election campaigns.
Essentially it states that as a result of media attention, judges may act in a bias manner in order to appease voters which violates due process. The question is whether or not this should be grounds for recusal.
Historically it was ruled in favor of defendants but recently more cases have been ruling in favor of judges and the penalties for running tough-on-crime or otherwise slanted campaigns are not very harsh at all.
The reason I originally stated partisan elections is that typically, if one runs with a party, one's ideals are aligned with that party and therefore the judge would rule with that party. I guess that's just the breaks with elections though.
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zappaisgod
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Re: Should judges be allowed to run in partisan elections? [Re: learningtofly]
#11385543 - 11/04/09 04:33 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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I think that if the people of a district want a judge who will not give murderers 2 month sentences then they should be allowed to. All Constitutional protections should, of course, apply.
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learningtofly
Ancient Aliens
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Re: Should judges be allowed to run in partisan elections? [Re: zappaisgod]
#11385591 - 11/04/09 04:40 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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what are you talking about? murderers 2 month sentences?
The entire point of this question IS whether or not constitutional rights are being protected. The idea is that running tough-on-crime is impartial (especially near an election because the judge knows his or her job is at stake) and therefore violates a person's constitutional right to a fair trial.
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zappaisgod
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Re: Should judges be allowed to run in partisan elections? [Re: learningtofly]
#11385689 - 11/04/09 04:53 PM (14 years, 4 months ago) |
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False. There is nothing remotely unconstitutional about promising to be "tough on crime". What do you suppose the judge in the 1971 case and the parole board has to say to Jaycee Lee Dugard?
Quote:
The Garridos were arrested Wednesday after Phillip Garrido raised suspisions of campus police at the University of California, Berkeley. Garrido was spotted there with two young girls trying to gain access to the campus library, Kollar said.
Campus police then notified Garrido's parole officer who arranged an interview. Garrido, who was on parole from a 1971 conviction for rape and kidnapping, arrived for the meeting accompanied by the two girls, as well as wife and another woman, named Allissa.
Allissa later was identified as Jaycee Dugard, the blond, pony-tailed 11-year-old who was taken from the school bus stop minutes after she left her South Lake Tahoe home in 1991.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543640,00.html
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