Judicial Selection and the Qualities that Make a “Good” Judge

Abstract

This exploratory article considers various aspects of the linkage between the judicial selection and the recruitment of “good”—as defined here—judges and the challenge of determining and applying objective criteria to particular individuals. Certain selection procedures are suggested for maximizing the recruitment of good judges. The article examines five principal judicial selection methods used in the United States, with a focus on federal judicial selection and the changes brought about during the Carter administration. Although evaluation of judicial candidates will remain, for the most part, a subjective process, it may be possible to develop somewhat less subjective ways of assessing who does and does not possess the qualities that make for a good judge.

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