Let the People Judge the Judges: Reforming Virginia's Judicial Selection Proces.
by: Donald D. Litten
For Virginia Business
The writer is a Harrisonburg attorney in practice since 1957.
Judicial selection in the States is an important, diverse, and controversial process. State judges impact every arena of life with their decisions, from traffic to criminal court. And through this century, the debate has persisted over what is the best way to select these judges. In Virginia, the state constitution gives the General Assembly the right to choose judges, one of very few states to use this method. Most of the other states use some form of popular election or gubernatorial appointment. "To outsiders, Virginia's system of lawmakers electing judges looks quirky and even unfair, a cloistered system of good ol' boys looking out for each other." Perhaps there is a reason that Virginia is in by far the minority on the judicial selection issue. There are too many flaws in a system that gives the legislature exclusive power to appoint and remove judges at its pleasure. Virginia's system as it is now is "a highly partisan process that Democrats had lorded over while they were in power, and one that state Republicans seem to be relishing now that they're in the majority." Virginia needs to rethink the way it chooses its judges. more
The situation of family courts endangering children and punishing women must be exposed in the media. State and national policymakers in all three branches of government and other allies must be advised of the problem of family courts placing children in the unsupervised custody of abusive parents, and be told that this is happening with alarming frequency. Unlawfully abused by Virginia judicial system?? Expose & make known corruptions. Share your story to be published. Va.justlaw@live.com
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