Elected Judges: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

tonight is judges whereas of America's only formal muumuus judges occupy an exalted position in American life but as important as they are we tend not to think about them very much unless one of them makes news as happened earlier this month a federal court last month lifted Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage but Roy Moore the state Supreme Court Chief Justice ordered state judges to ignore the federal ruling yes Alabama judge Roy Moore refused an order to let gay people marry living up to his state slogan Alabama boldly refusing to accept diversity and the inevitable since 1819 now - just out of interest what was his judicial reasoning for such a decision I think the gay marriage is an alteration of the definition of marriage in the United States Supreme Court does not have the authority or the federal courts do not have the authority to interpret a word that disputes the Constitution hold on hold on not only can the Supreme Court override a state that's basically its job that's not telling dill it can't ruin any foodstuff it comes into contact with that's what dill does get out of everyone's food till you are filthy weed your wreckingball know him up you might be thinking how did that man get to become the highest judicial officer in the state well like eighty-five percent of state judges in America he was elected 39 states hold elections for judges and America is virtually alone in doing this in fact there's only one other country on Earth that does it on this scale you can guess which you're wrong it's Bolivia hey a country you think about so little you haven't even realized that's not Bolivia this Bolivia actually actually that's still not Bolivia this is Bolivia or is it or if it this this game is never not going to be fun no America has been elected judges since the early 1800s and the thing is it all began from a good impulse judicial elections originated as a reform measure so people were concerned that you know judges were being selected behind closed doors there wasn't any kind of public accountability okay and public accountability sounds great the problem is for many judges nowadays there's almost none of that most run unopposed last year in LA County 150 out of 151 incumbent judges ran on a post and come on they can at least go through the motions of pretending there was another candidate just throw a robe on a Pelican and tape a gavel to his wing or I'll tell you what you're in LA just pretend you're considering Blake Lively for the job movie studios do that all the time and the problem is whenever a judge does face a challenger they have to run like a politician and that's why many states are subjected to the bizarre spectacle of ads like these hi I'm Allan Lauri I'm running for our Supreme Court it's law free is in law and free this is my house come on in there's the kitchen something smells good my wife Kelli law free in our son justice lottery that's right justice slot yeah yeah I called my son justice I call my dog preamble and I call my penis the gavel vote for me boom boom boom boom boom and sometimes campaigns opt to sell a judge with sheer catchiness there's a judge they call Paul Newby he's got criminals on the run Paul steely stares got him running scared Neal take him down one by one Paul Newby he's a tough old judge respected everywhere Paul knew be just as tough but fair Paul knew be criminals best beware what just happened am I supposed to vote for that man or root for him to catch them Duke boys and look I know what you're thinking could any commercial be less relevant to a judge's qualifications for the job I give you Gregg beard search and rescue and Rapides Parish here's volunteer diver Gregg beard we have to know what we're doing study try trust our team we do this because it helps people Gregg beard for Rapides Parish District Court judge when times are tough this dive team stands ready of course of course it makes sense because when I'm choosing a judge the only thing I really care about is who can hold their breath the longest here's the thing all three of the men in those ads won their elections their judge is now judging people and the stupid ads are actually the least problematic what's far more worrisome is when judges run ads like these without blinking an eye judge kenneth ingram sentence the killer to die michael oyster is the only candidate for judge who has put our worst criminals on death row my privilege to sentence with a life in prison without wait it's your privilege at best it's your duty then there are some jobs where that kind of occupational relish is inappropriate if you're having a colonoscopy you don't want to hear it is my privilege to insert this camera deep inside your anus the problem with an elected judiciary is sometimes the right decision is neither easy nor popular and yet campaigns force judges to look over their shoulder on every ruling because while political attack ads can be aggressive judicial attack ads can be downright horrifying I was convicted of stabbing my victims with the kitchen knife shooting my ex-girlfriend and murdering her sister in front of our child of sexual assault on a mom and her ten-year-old daughter and I'd slashed their throats on appeal Justice Thomas Kilbride sided with us over law enforcement or victims oh my god good luck getting back into whatever you were watching after seeing that commercial Sheldon and his friends are gonna have to get into some pretty wacky mishaps like the memory of that away now now what those evil shadows are saying sounds awful but here's the problem none of those three men were actually set free by Judge killbride but in each case he merely questioned the legality of procedural points in their trials which is a judge's job but there's no room in campaigns for nuance that's why you don't see bumper stickers reading justice is complicated requiring the sublimation of our baser instincts which though difficult is the only thing that separates us from the Annika piece Kilbride 2015 the danger rates though the danger is if ads like those get inside judge's heads and make the rule more harshly to protect themselves in the future and the problem is that does happen there are some academic studies that have suggested that judges do change their behavior so for example in election years if you look at judges sentencings decisions judges tender tend to be harder on crime that's terrifying because you shouldn't be sitting in a prison going how did you get 15 months for public urination well you know it was October in an election year I should have known what I was getting into and it's not like appointing judges is the perfect system we can all name one that we don't like and it's usually Antonin Scalia oh oh oh no no no no not all in his more palatable form a bulldog dressed as Antonin Scalia elections are inherently compromising because campaigns cost money and that money has to come from somewhere which leads to the horrifying spectacle of judges hitting up lawyers for donations for attorneys like Jules oldsman this is the most expensive time of the year election season is when lawyers like him have to dig deepest into their wallets that's because every hour or so he'll get a call from a judges campaign looking for a contribution it's very hard to say no it's impossible to say no judge is asking lawyers to give them campaign money is the definition of a conflict of interest think about it giving money to two judges wouldn't be acceptable in a state fair squash growing competition oh really Gladys gets first place how much money did you give you because I know that that knobbly pile of is not the nicest course you've seen this afternoon it looks like the Jolly Green giant's dick fell off and everyone here knows it Gladys everyone knows it sometimes judges will even shake lawyers down after the election is over democratic appeals court judge Jim sharp sent a passive-aggressive email to a Texas attorney who had donated to his unsuccessful opponent which said I trust that you will see your way clear to contribute to my campaign and in an amount reflective of the $2,000 contribution you made towards my defeat wink emoticon and the fact that he's shaking him down isn't even the part of that email I find most offensive it's the wink emoticon I guess we should all just be glad he stopped short of going full wink emoji incredibly judges can even target potential future defendants as a Philadelphia traffic court judge candidate named Wendy Singletary did and a biker rally do all judges do this all the divorce judge is going to IQs right now saying look I know some of you guys won't last who's got 50 bucks for me go now you'll be glad to hear that that judge is no longer on the bench although it wasn't for taking those contributions but rather because he allegedly once showed cell phone pictures of his genitals to a colleague and accusation that yielded their disciplinary hearing whose magnificent opinion featured the phrase the judicial penis and determined he had intentionally groomed his penis for photography now that's not really relevant to the story that I'm telling right now but I think you'll agree you had to know that you deserve to know that and look it gets a guess well step one one step was judge is also frequently benefits from campaign money given by businesses and special interests and while they may claim that that doesn't affect them multiple studies have suggested otherwise we looked at the Ohio Supreme Court and asked the question of how often they vote for contributors who appear before them and the answer was overall about 70 percent of the time and in the case of one justice Harris O'Donnell 91 percent of the time now justice O'Donnell says that there was no connection there but the point is he still said sure why not in response to people who gave him money 91 percent of the time and the only other person who does that is Nicolas Cage that's the only it's been a disaster Nicolas it's been a romp but it's been a disaster and to be fair many judges don't like this system even Ohio Supreme Court justice Paul Pfeiffer has said I never felt so much like a hooker down by the bus station in any race I've ever been in as I did in a judicial race which does explain Pfeiffer's campaign slogan justice for all no kissing on the mouth though I have to say something for the man I fall in love with and increasingly since citizens united PACs and super PACs are getting involved in fact remember the banjo ad the one you're still humming in your head that was sponsored by a PAC called the North Carolina judicial coalition whose founders include businesses like r.j. Reynolds and remember this one I was convicted of stabbing my victims with a kitchen knife shooting my ex-girlfriend and murder her sister in front of our child that was sponsored by something called just PAC whose donors include Koch Industries the US Chamber of Commerce and John Deere PAC yes the people who make tractors also apparently helped make judicial decisions for the people of Illinois and look when you have a system where judges are serenaded with banjos shakedown lawyers for money compare themselves to prostitutes and live in constant fear of tractors you have a problem because faith in a strong independent judiciary is essential for a civilized society without it were settling disputes either in Thunder domes or via the purge and I still can't work out how that thing works are there any rules are timezones a factor in the purge is the East Coast purge an hour before the purge Central Time in which case nobody tweet about it it spoils it for everyone look if we're going to keep electing judges we may have to alter our idea of what justice is in fact at the very least to be a bit more representative we should tweak the blindfolded lady holding scales to put a tip jar in our hand and give her a pink winking emoji for a face you

Channel: LastWeekTonight

Views: 8,968,842

Keywords: hbo, judges, elections, political action committees

Id: poL7l-Uk3I8

Length: 13min 27sec (807 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 23 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/Gudeldar]

I'm surprised he didn't mention this revolting ad that aired in the 2014 election in NC.

[u/DefconTiger]

Can confirm lawyer/judge fuckery. In my younger more idiotic years I was charged and called to court. A family friend knew the judge and recommended a lawyer who apparently knew this judge well. Once I was in court the lawyer and judge were literally joking around and bullshitting like they were drinking buddies. My lawyer half-assedly praised my character although it seemed thinly veiled in sarcasm. It was an incredibly bizarre and uncomfortable experience especially considering other convicts awaiting sentencing were waiting in the same room watching all of this happen. I got off with community service and was able to seal my case permanently. Moral: if you have the money to hire a connected lawyer - fucking do it.

[u/coscorrodrift]

The "This-is-not-that-country" thing always gets me.

[u/[deleted]]

[removed]

[u/Dean_Craig_Pelton]

Why the hell do we elect our judges anyways?

[u/johnnybiggs15]

got a guy running for judge in my city who has no law degree and the only reason he is running is because his father was the judge before him and he is most likley going to win. the job pays 80k a year

[u/[deleted]]

Lawyer here. My 2 cents: state-level judges (the ones in your county courts, state appellate courts, and state supreme court) should be elected by the members of the state bar association. Sounds anti-democratic, but the truth is that the general public knows absolutely jack-shit about whether or not the person they are electing is a competent judge. But every lawyer who sees that judge (if an incumbent) knows their professional capacity inside and out. And if they are a local lawyer running for the first time, every lawyer in the area knows if they're up to it or not. If it was in the hands of the state bar association, there could be all kinds of certifications and training and vetting before a lawyer could even think of putting their name in for an open seat. Politicians have to meet essentially zero professional criteria to run. The only difference for judges is a bar card. That needs to change.

[u/Mr_Discus]

UK Mirror?

[u/PopsSpurs]

Gotta love how behind the map of south america with Bolivia highlighted he had the Uruguayan flag, not the Bolivian flag.

Bolivia Flag

Urugauy Flag