How should Texas Select its Judges?
How should Texas Select its Judges?
Prepare for Assignment: Read/Watch these short articles/videos.
Short Readings for Texas Judicial system:
Difference-Between-Civil-Law-and-Criminal-Law.png (960×720) (whyunlike.com)
Family Court – Definition, Examples, Processes (legaldictionary.net)
https://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/15/analysis-distance-between-judges-and-politics/
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/07/15/texas-partisan-judicial-elections-reform-abbott-
support/
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/12/31/texas-judicial-elections-partisan/
Choose Your Judges » Should Judges be Elected or Appointed?
Judicial Selection: Significant Figures | Brennan Center for Justice
Judicial selection in Texas – Ballotpedia
Justice For Sale: How Judicial Elections Are Corrupting Our Court System – The Baines Report
(utexas.edu)
1987 60 Minutes Is Justice For Sale in Texas – YouTube Approx 16 min. Criticisms still valid
If you’re interested: Longer sources
1.5 hours at regular speed: The View from the Bench: Judicial Campaigns and Public Confidence
in the Courts | ACS (acslaw.org)
201230_tcjs-final-report_compressed.pdf (txcourts.gov) Dec 2020
Assignment:
You are the chairperson for a committee to consider a new system of selecting
state judges in Texas. Your committee has studied the research above and is
writing a recommendation to the state as to how Texas should select its judges.
Now, you will write a report to the Governor, state legislature, and citizens of
Texas to explain your committee’s decision.
Make sure that your committee’s report address each of the following issues:
1) Did your committee choose different judicial selection methods for family
courts, civil courts, and criminal cases? Explain your committee’s methods of
judicial selection choices for each of these types of courts. Why did your
committee make these choices for these three different types of courts? How
is your plan different from the way Texas selects these judges now?
2) Did your committee choose different judicial selection methods for different
layers of courts (trials and appeals)? Explain your committee’s choices.
3) For criminal courts, will your committee use the same judicial selection
system for all courts or will it depend on the level of crime involved? Explain.
4) Overall Assessment: Consider each of the judicial selection changes your
committee made:
A. What new/additional problems are created by your system?
B. Discuss parts of the judicial selection system that will not be fixed or
improved by your committee’s choices.
C. In what ways will the judicial selection systems be improved by your
choices?
5) Since your committee wants to see these reforms put into place, what 2
specific ideas would you be willing to compromise in order get the state to
implement your committee’s ideas?
6) Was your plan successful or not? Explain. Were certain parts accepted but
not others? Explain.
7) Discuss 2 ways in which your understanding of Texas’ court system improved
by doing this assignment.
Question and answer formant ONLY when responding
Paper Format: APA
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