Taking Judicial Notice

Like a lot of other people, I went to the polls this week to cast my ballot.

Not surprisingly, the very first contest involved people I had never heard of.  It has happened before, and it will happen again. And, not because I take no interest in politics.

People who know me will tell you that I take politics very seriously. Even my wonderful wife will sometimes look at me as I am discussing one or two vital points in a political debate and say, lovingly, “shut up, already.”

So, why didn’t I know those people? You will understand in just one word.

Judges.

The first people you vote for on the ballot in my county were judges. You got to vote for any of the people named.

So as not to harm the stellar reputation of any of those now-respected jurists, I’ll make up some fake names here.

I got to vote for Joe Smith on the Democratic Line. I got to vote for Joe Smith on the Republican line. I got to vote for Joe Smith on the Conservative line.

I couldn’t vote for him more than once, so I went on to the second name, to pick a jurist who represented the values of my party. That was Tom Jones, and - surprise, surprise - his name was on the same three party lines.

The third? I’ll call him Tommy O’Brien, although he wasn’t Irish. Same thing.

We don’t have to keep making up names for all the candidates, since the result is mostly the same. To be fair, there were two candidates who were not cross-endorsed. They had lonely ballot spots on the Libertarian Party line. Next time, I will seek them out as a protest vote.

Now here in New York we go through waves of political reform, just as we argue over how long we can keep the title of Most Ineffective State legislature or most corrupt government. We call that one the Tweed Trophy. (Look it up of you don’t know who Boss Tweed was.)

Well, the political reform wave goes something like this: Judges aren’t allowed to express political opinions, or let their political philosophy interfere with their rulings. When running for office, they can’t talk about anything except their background, but they can be endorsed by organizations like the firefighters benevolent association or a civil service employees association.

And, of course, they can be chosen by a political party to run for office. In fact, to get on the ballot, they have to be chosen by one party or another.

Now, in years past, just one party ran the county. Every two years they got a majority of the votes, which meant they almost always had a majority on the county legislature and all their judicial candidates won.

At that time, they argued that the voters had the right - nay, the duty - to pick the candidates of their choice. And so, it was done.

Then, in the course of time, things changed. Some scandals, some mismanagement, some financial problems and tax increases, and all of a sudden winning those judicial seats wasn’t a certainty any more.

A lawyer who worked hard for the party for many years could no longer be certain that their name would be put into the golden circle of candidates who might get the nomination to a judgeship. And being a judge is, among other things, a pretty good job.

For a time, the powers that be tried apportionment. We got 70 percent of the votes, you can have 30 percent of the judicial seats. Ten judicial seats up for election, we get 7.

But, it wasn’t a great system. Now, we have a better one. Vote for anyone you like, on any party line. All we get to do is choose the names that will be on the ballot.

See, everybody gets to do something. Isn’t democracy grand.

Footnote: Our country really is a laboratory for democracy. There are 38 states that hold elections for some judicial posts, but we have a wonderful mix of appointments, retention elections, general elections and legislative conformation. In Rhode Island, they are appointed by the governor for a life term.

The Brennan Center For Justice has a really nice summery of the way we pick our black-robed jurists from state to state. It makes interesting reading if you want to look it up.

It’s that or just happily voting for people you have never heard of every two years,