Judicial Selection

Judicial Selection

Jessica R Harris

M0651221

CRIM 385

Historically, there has been considerable controversy about how American Judges should be chosen. During the colonial era, they were selected by the king, and even after the Revolution the states continued to select judges by appointment. However they were not immune to the influences of the wealthy, prosperous or the politically inclined.

However gradually, states began to move towards popular elections as a means of choosing judges. For example Georgia (in 1812) amended its constitution to provide that judges of inferior courts be popularly elected. Twenty years later Mississippi became the first state in which all judges were popularly elected. (1)

Although in the mid 1800’s popular elections became the more favored means of judicial selection, it was not without its problems. Judges still were associated with political partisan and were identified with their political parties special interests.

During the 1930s, the public became increasingly dissatisfied with the increasing role of politics in judicial selection and judicial decision-making. Judges were plagued by outside influences due to the political aspects of the election process, and dockets were congested due to time the judges spent campaigning. (2)

In 1935 James M Douglas was elected to the St. Louis Circuit Court as a Democrat. At the age of 41 Douglas was appointed to the “High Court” by Governor Stark. When he took office, the court was in the midst of a complex and controversial insurance case, of which the insurance companies found influence through a Kansas City political boss named Thomas J Pendergast (The Pendergast Machine) who had taken control of Missouri state government. Douglas, however, cast the deciding vote against the insurance companies.

Pendergast subsequently recruited a judge named James V. Billings to run against Douglas in the upcoming election. This recruitment represented the struggle between the “boss” and...