POLS 3600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: United States District Court

• School: University of Georgia
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 3600
• Professor: Ethan Boldt

Document Summary

Judges have three major roles: adjudicator, judges must assume a neutral stance in overseeing the contest between the prosecution and the defense. They must apply the law in ways that uphold the rights of the accused in decisions about detention, plea, trial, and sentence. How are judges selected: elections, appointment or legislative selection, merit selection. 5 methods used to select state trial court judges. Drawbacks of judicial elections: judges being beholden to campaign donors. The method of judicial selection embodies the underlying american value of democracy because it permits the citizens to control the choice of individuals who will receive the power to make decisions in civil and criminal cases. Merit selection: reform plan by which judges are nominated by committee and appointed by a governor for a period of time. When the term expires, the voters approve or disapprove the judge for a succeeding term. If the judge is disapproved, the committee nominates a successor for the governor"s appointment.