Saturday, January 24, 2004

Republicans finishing work on reform plan for state court judgeships

The Norfolk paper reports here ("State GOP poised with final reform for judiciary," 1/24/2004) that Republicans in the General Assembly are nearing completion of a plan for the evaluation of state court judges - which includes evaluations from jurors and lawyers during a judge's term.

The article describes the current judicial selection process as follows:

"Under the current process, many local judgeship candidates interview with a panel of citizens and lawyers.

They must also seek endorsements from their bar associations and win nominations from their Senate and House representatives.

The Senate and House Courts of Justice committees then interview leading candidates. The committees pick their top choice. Then the Senate and House votes on the judgeships.

During the process, candidates must fill out a questionnaire about their judicial experience, training, education, financial stability and club affiliations. They must also agree to a criminal background check."

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