State Judiciaries

The Washington Post, along with a million other outlets, is taking note of the weeping, blubbering, Larry Seidlin, the County Circuit Judge who is presiding over Anna Nicole Smith's afterlife here on Earth. Without any futher discussion of the Smith case at this point, I think this is a good opportunity to discuss the problems with our state judiciaries. Here is a quick summary of Florida's judicial system as pertinent to this discussion:

"The jurisdictions and qualifications for Judges in Florida are set by Article Five of the State Constitution. Some additional jurisdiction is conferred by general law. Judges in Florida are subject to election, with Circuit Judges having six (6) year terms..Circuit Court Judges have jurisdiction throughout the Circuit in which they were elected, and may preside in any County in that Circuit. They have jurisdiction over all felonies (crimes for which the maximum penalty exceeds one (1) year imprisonment), all family law cases, all civil cases where the amount in controversy exceeds fifteen thousand (15,000) dollars, cases involving juveniles, probate, guardianship, involuntary hospitalization, incompetency, appeals from County Courts, actions involving title and boundaries of real property, and injunctive relief."

Some details have emerged about Larry Seidlin. He drove a cab to pay for night-law school. How did he make his way down to Broward, run for office, etc.? He obviously relishes the media attention. I think characters like these raise questions about the workings of the state courts. Would we have someone like this on the bench making ostensibly important decisions absent an elected state judiciary? In the legal world, there is an open secret that there is a world of difference between federal judges, who have life tenure provided good behavior under Article III of the US Constitution,and get alot of respect, and state judges, who are frequently lamented. Surely, it is time for states to get their act together and abolish the system of elected judges, and instead try to recruit more qualified people to the state judiciary.