I chose the word barrister very carefully, because, over time, the Judges have granted themselves immunity. You might want to research that. The founders of this country envisioned there being checks and balances for all three branches of government, but the Judiciary has ruled itself to be exempt from any scrutiny.

I challenge you to name one judge in this state (other than magistrates or summary judges) who has been removed from the bench because of his/her conduct ON THE BENCH. I am not talking about taking bribes, or being caught with illegal drugs, or immoral conduct outside of the court room. I am talking about heinous behavior and rulings in the course of adjudicating cases.

Let’s try a little logic here. If the judicial suitors have to garner votes from people who have already had to sell their souls politically to become legislators, those suitors have to have made some agreement to be of like persuasion in order to secure the votes. Just because it is done behind closed doors and in parking garages doesn’t make it any different than campaigning for public election.

Please don’t take me to task for employing logic. I am well aware that it is foreign to politics and judicial decisions.

I believe that both our assessments of the judges of this fine State possible are overly broad. I do not believe that politics and/or political beliefs should have any bearing on whether a judge is good or bad. I have observed some judges who are respected by peers, well educated and competent frequently demonstrating a lack of the integrity that it takes to be a good judge.
Any person who is in a position of ultimate authority, with absolute immunity from being held accountable or being removed from that position for his/her actions must hold themselves to the highest of standards in order to avoid the temptation to abuse such a position of authority. Unfortunately, many of our judges do not hold themselves to such high standards.
You ask the characteristics that I believe judges should exhibit. Judges should doggedly adhere to the Contstitution, the Law, aplicable precedent, and the Rules of Procedure and Eviidence. They should render their decisions ever mndful of the right of the litigant(s) to have a fair and impartial decision based on FACT. (I believe that judges must take and Oath to do so.) I would like to see more judges willing to sanction attorneys who abuse the judicial process, be intolerant of intentional misrepresentations by both the litigants and their attorneys, and be above showing favoratism towards certain attorneys.
Just as a fun exercise, YUP, why don’t you conduct an anonymouse poll of the sttorneys in this State asking them how often they find that certain judges have their own rules for their courts. I think you will find many who wish they could find the published version of each judge’s rules of court. It would make their jobs soo much easier.

You know I overheard one of the “laypersons” you talk about the other day saying, “Well lookey there, the Emperor ain’t wearin’ no clothes.” Of course, that “layperson” isn’t educated enough to comprehend just how the system works, and just how good the system is.

I believe that both of our assessments of the judges of this fine State possibly are overly broad. I do NOT believe that politics, or political beliefs have any bearing on whether a judge is good or bad. I have observed that some judges who are respected by peers, well educated, and competent nevertheless lack the integrity that it takes to be a good judge. Any person who finds him/herself in a position of ultimate authority, with absolute immunity from being held accountable or being removed from that position, must have the highest of standards to avoid the pitfalls of abusing being in such a position. Unfortunately, many of our judges do not hold themselves to those high standards.

You ask the characteristics that I believe judges should exhibit. Judges should doggedly adhere to the Constitution, the law, applicable precedent, and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, and render their decisions ever mindful of the rights of the litigant(s) before them to have a fair and impartial hearing based on fact. (I believe this is pretty much covered by the Oath that each judge takes.) I also would like to see judges be willing to impose sanctions on those barristers who appear before them who abuse the judicial process, and whose decisions cannot be influenced by the “connections” or reputations of the barristers who are associated with the matter before them.

Yup, I challenge you to take an extensive anonymous poll of the attorneys in this State, asking them just how many judges blatantly announce that their courts are operated under their own rules. I think you will find that there are many attorneys who wish that they could find the published version of each judge’s rules. It would make their jobs so much easier.

Never say never. Further, in my personal experience I would say that only a very, very small number of judges are “bad” judges in that they are incompetent. Most are very competent, well educated, highly respected by peers, and good people. Now, I would agree that one’s political ideology has, in the past at least, been less of a factor in getting on the bench than getting a seat in the legislature. So by bad you might mean “liberal.”

So it depends on the definition of bad. . But if bad means incompetent and you think that public elections will solve that, then you either don’t know our judges or you forgot who South Carolina just elected governor. Disenchanted what characteristics should we value in judges?

This gives “getting run over by the courts” a whole new meaning.

It’s ok … my bills are still getting paid. You’re right, while unfair, it’s far from the worst injustice I’ve seen out there.

Under the current system a judge who is “well connected” cannot be removed from the bench, no matter how bad the judicial temperment. the abuse of discretion demonstrated in his/her decisions, or even a recommendation from the JMSC that this judge not be returned to the bench

Sorry you didn’t get awarded child support, Earl, but let me assure you that that there are far more devastating and deplorable “errors” committed by Family Court Judges every day.