Richard A. Paez Quotes
A state sets itself on a collision course with the First Amendment when it chooses to popularly elect its judges but restricts a candidate’s campaign speech. To the extent states wish to avoid a politicized judiciary, they can choose to do so by not electing judges.
Richard A. Paez, Federal Judge on the United States Court of Appeals, Quoted in Adam Liptak, “Judges on the Campaign Trail”, New York Times, September 15, 2014
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Over 30 states at the time required state judges to stand for election. The result was that they had to have money to finance their campaigns like any other politicians. The results were many cases of lack of impartiality and enormous public perception that the judges were beholden to large campaign contributors. Justice O’Connor pointed out to them that they had created their own problems by popularly electing judges.
The government of Pakistan regarded this as seditious. The Government can fire judges at will and the military has the right to convene its own courts and try Pakistani civilians for certain alleged crimes by removing their cases from the civilian courts. Even when a Pakistani judge is not intimidated by the government or the military, the Islamic extremist fanatics often assassinate any public official who any one of thousands of fanatics feels is anti-Islamic.
Judges are easily attacked by those who do not like their decisions. In most cases judges can net even ethically defend themselves and so they are common victims of politicians and demagogues.
The notion of lifetime appointment for federal judges had been debated before and during the constitutional convention. The founders wrote it into the constitution to give the judges more security so that they could not be pressured by politicians or wealthy individuals. Also, without this concept many countries have judges who are just rubber stamps for the legislature or the leader of the country.
In America, the best attorneys have stayed in private practice where they could make much more money than government service or become professors and scholars of law. In either case, most have a track record that would make Senate confirmation difficult even if they wanted to be Federal Judges. A few like Abraham Lincoln went into politics. The Supreme Court is somewhat of an exception because of the power it wields, but even then many great attorneys have not been so inclined. Federal judges have usually been above average as attorneys, but not among the greatest.
The judiciary in the American system must give deference to the executive and legislative branches and interfere only when there is a violation of the Constitution. Many of the laws may well be viewed as bad policy by the judge, or in some case, may be unjust. The judge however cannot interfere just because he is dealing with bad or unjust laws. So Judge Scalia points out that the judge functioning properly in the American system will find that he personally does not like the consequences of his own opinions.
This shameful quotation was shocking to most readers. It is subject to two interpretations: One that judges who did not rule on Constitutional issues the way conservative extremists wanted would come to physical harm. The other, that conservatives should pressure judges by withholding appropriations for the courts, impeachments and recall elections where they exist, as well as funding potential opponents for those jurisdictions where judges are elected. Both meanings were disgraceful in the view of most Americans. Later, DeLay was convicted and sentenced to jail for money laundering and illegally spending and raising campaign funds. He was also reprimanded by the House Ethics Committee for unethical methods of fund raising for other earlier actions.
Richard Anthony Paez is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
