Sorting out the judges ...

Submitted by CSNA on Mon, 10/19/2020 - 20:55

In every primary and general election it seems voters are presented with a long list of judges up for retention or competeing for a vacancy.

In the past ... newspapers printed guidelines ... bar asociations published recommendations ... voters clipped the articles, assembled the bar association recommendations and head to the polls. Some would assemble handwritten hit lists of either who to vote for or against. However, for many, long minutes were spent in voting booth matching newsprint articles, recommendations; handwritten lists and the names on the ballotts.

Now, newspaper articles are behind paywalls and without a subscription you are out of luck ... bar associations have poliferated as have their recommendations ... no one makes paper lists ...and the list of judges is not getting shorter.

Fortunately one on-line organization has made an effort to sort throuh this maze:

www.voteforjudges.org

Here you can find a lot of information including:

The summary recommendations of the 12 bar associations that jointly evaluate judges and make separate recommendations:

The recommendations of the Chicago Bar Association which conducts it's own, separate and highly regarded evaluations:

These two pretty much cover the subject.

For those who want to explore further there are the evaluation narratives of two organizations that participate in the Alliance of Bar Associations evaluations ... and the grid of the 12 Alliance Associatioins individual evaluations:

But, whether judges are your thing or not, remember to do one thing on November 3rd ...

 

VOTE!