The reviews of judge candidates by ALJ are helpful, but it’s difficult to put those reviews into any venue where we can apply them after we read them.

One of the problems is that despite efforts of many worthwhile groups like ALJ, letters to the editor, etc. judges are confirmed because of horse trading deals by members of SJC or Harry Reid and SJC, with the White House and Mitch McConnell, so that these efforts are for nought. That’s how many of the currently approved far right wing extreme judicial candidates (240 to date that Bush has nominated for the trial and appellate bench were approved).

It leaves little that we are able to do. And of course many of these judges have been reported out of SJC, not by a 10-9 Republican Majority but by a 10-9 Democratic majority in the 110th Congress. I don’t see this changing.

Another typical problem is that currently many Immigration judges were veted by one Monica Goodling, and the requirements for the job were to “be a good Bushie.” Prior experience litigating in Immigration court was not one.

Of the federal judges that are not nominated from the US attorneys office, with prior litigation expereience as AUSAs, including many on Circuit Courts of Appeals, many of them have never litigated a civil or criminal case in a federal court room. This is obviously a disadvantage as to their competency level.

Brett Cavanaugh and Janice Rodgers Brown, currently judges on the D.C. Circuit, are two shining examples and they received very poor reviews from Ms. Aron’s organization.

My sense is that that deference would be toward the conservative and apparently the strong executive is precedent we now have.

It is my fear that the citizenry (at least here in Penn’s Woods) have but little concern about the ‘quality’ of their local judges (excepting minorities)and , for the most part, the public is blithely and quite happily ignorant concerning what is going on; and not much inclined to become interested.

Whom do I fault? The various media, politicians in general ( as judges are elected here, they are also ‘politicians’) and our failing educational system (from Kindergarten to advanced degree).

I wish I could be more encouraging regarding this issue, it has been a concern of mine for years, but I suspect that ‘consequence’ has not,as yet, reached a magnitude sufficient to impact enough people. At that critical juncture, we run the risk of it being ‘too late’ for many.

Until Americans have understood, at the individual, personal level, the need for widespread, ongoing civic involvement (beyond the volunteer fire company and the PTO), we shall make little progress in this critical area of democracy.

There is a reason that pharmacists all over the country have started refusing to dispense contraception to customers on personal belief grounds, refusing to give them back their prescription forms and then refusing to tell them where they could go to receive contraception — even when it is medically necessary to prevent a pregnancy that could kill the person with the prescription. This is not happenstance…not by a long shot.

(and thanks dakine01)

But most lawyers will have a private conversation with you about various candidates if you ask them about it and have more than a passing acquaintence with them. Thought it might be worth mentioning for folks.