As we saw in the Sunday Strib, we do not elect our judges in this state. For those who missed the story, 91% of the judges currently sitting in this state were appointed. Since judges seldom have challengers in the elections, they win elections by default. There is no way to vote them out of office.
I remeber a few years ago when we did have some Hennepin County judges challenged. I overheard a wife and husband talking as they left. He said, 'I just voted against everyone of them that had incumbent after their name.' Not a sign of an enlighted voter, but a good sign of the public's faith in the judiciary. I loved some of the quotes. 'It is so hard for the public to understand what the qualifications are' for a judge. Of course, up until the last year or so, the public wasn't allowed to ask questions of the candidates that might enlightened them as to the candidates qualifications. Was anyone out there angered by this article? If the #>@"_ lawyers think we are so incompitent, why don't they get the constitution changed? While they are at it, they can get the governor and the legislators positions changed to appointments 'til age 70 as well. I don't know what others think, but the men involved in Deasha Hazley's assault should not have been on the street and the judges need to be held responsible. These are convicted, hardened criminals. A pat on the hand and telling them to be good is not going to hack it. One of the judges who released on ofthese men, handled a case a couple of years ago where a father turned a hair dryer on the face of his less than one-month old baby. She received third degree burns on her face. He was convicted and was supposed to go to prison for several years. Instead, the judge gave him six months in the workhouse for whatever lame reason. Unbeknownst to child protection, his girlfriend, the mother of the baby, was pregnant (they terminated her parental rights on the victim baby and two older children). When the nice young man got out of the workhouse, he beat the baby boy to death. He's now in prison, but a child is dead. Both of these children were northside African American babies. Would this have been allowed to be the verdict if they were white children? or from better neighborhoods? I don't know. However, the judge obviously hasn't learned from past mistakes. Now, what were those qualifications to be a judge? Oh yeah, a law degree!!! Anne Mccandless Jordan TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
