What to do?

My blog yesterday concerned Jessica's Law. I have received a few comments on that topic from yesterday and I felt it was time for a sequel.

One comment from my good friend Casey in Alabama centered on what to do about the judges that are releasing these child predators. That is a loaded question...well its a loaded political question.

Some states and municipalities actually vote for some judges during elections. Other states and municipalities have there judges appointed by the government. In the case Federal Court judges these are appointed by the president and confirmed by congress.

But how does one go about removing a sitting judge from the bench? That there is a tricky question and many scholars argue the point. Just do a google search on "removing judges" and you will see some of the arguments in black and white.

Whether it be through impeachment or recall there are ways within the US constitution and most state constitutions for removing a judge from the bench. Once a decision is made to impeach or recall a judge that is when the task moves from the world or law into the world of politics.

Like it or not judges have political affiliation. In the case of the federal courts, there is no way a judge will ever be appointed by the president unless he is a member of the political party or has like political views to those of the president that appoints them. If a federal judge is to be impeached and removed from office it will take people on both sides of the political isle to "git-r-done". Beyond that impeachment is a messy business. Just remember a few years back when President Clinton was impeached.

There is also the fact that congress has been willing to step into the world of the judicial branch. While there have been several federal and state impeachment trials (remember that impeachment is an indictment and then a trial occurs) there have been few and far between. I think this, again, is mainly due to the political nature of the process. But the process is there.

The other problem I have with judges is that they are never required to answer for their actions on the bench. In fact, even questioning a judge outside of the court room could lead to a contempt charge and time in jail.

It is high time that we, the American people, start holding judges accountable for their actions on the bench. There is only one way to do this and that is through our elected officials in either state or federal government. I think one of the reasons you see so many laws being passed with mandatory sentencing guidelines is that judges refuse to properly sentence those that are convicted of a crime. The job of "adequate" sentencing then falls to the legislature where it does not belong.

For those states and municipalities that have elected judges the process is much easier. Don't re-elect the judge. But then again the way in which we re-elect politicians to office, that may not work either.