More “Merit” Selection Judges Behaving Badly

January 9, 2012

Last week, Shira Goodman over at Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts – a charter member of the $45 million+ George Soros campaign to end democratic selection of judges – suggested that the ethical transgression of one Philadelphia Traffic Court judge represented an indictment of judicial elections.  This has become a favorite meme of the “merit” selection crowd – but as recent judicial scandals in New Mexico and Missouri demonstrate, judges chosen under secret selection hardly have a monopoly on virtue.

To satisfy myself that I wasn’t being too hasty, I spent about 30 seconds on a Google search this weekend and came up with a few more examples of “merit” selection judges behaving badly.  In Maryland, the award goes to Judge Richard Palumbo, who dismissed a protective order against a man who later doused his wife with gasoline and set her on fire.  A few months earlier, when the wife appeared before Judge Palumbo and said she wanted an immediate divorce, Palumbo shot back, “I’d like to be 6-foot-5.”  A state Senator later accused Judge Palumbo of having an “anti-victim, anti-woman attitude.”  Obviously a judge chosen strictly by “merit.”

In Florida, Judge Paul Hawkes resigned last November over charges related to his role in constructing a new $50 million courthouse locals refer to as the “Taj Mahal.”  According to news reports, Judge Hawkes “pushed for mahogany walls, granite countertops, and 60-inch television screens in every office.”  Hawkes was accused of “destroying public records pertaining to the court’s budget” and browbeating a “furniture vendor” into “underwrit[ing] a trip for Hawkes and two relatives.”  Since the Florida judicial nominating commission meets in secret, I guess we’ll never know what “merit” commissioners saw in Judge Hawkes.

I’m not claiming that all judges chosen under “merit” selection are ethically challenged.  That would be Shira Goodman-style demagoguery.  Instead, I think there are two conclusions any fair-minded observer could draw:

1) Judges are human and prone to the same temptations to abuse power faced by every public servant;

2) We need strong mechanisms to keep judges accountable.

The primary objective of democratic judicial elections is to provide that accountability; the primary objective of “merit” selection is to destroy it.

Posted by in the categories: Florida, Maryland, Merit Selection

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One Response to “More “Merit” Selection Judges Behaving Badly”

  1. Blame the Judge, Not the System | American Courthouse on February 27th, 2013 11:33 pm

    [...] I’ve pointed to examples of ethically challenged judges chosen under “merit” selection in Florida, New Mexico, and Missouri.  The simple truth is, no judicial selection system has been found that [...]