Education for Judicial Aspirants

Keith R. Fisher

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

Abstract

State judiciaries are responsible for the resolution and disposition of the vast majority of civil and criminal cases in the United States. Yet public confidence in the court system has greatly diminished and continues to wane, and criticism of the quality of individual judges and the judiciary as a whole is ubiquitous. Judges themselves have evidenced their dissatisfaction by voluntarily doffing their robes and leaving the bench in ever-increasing numbers. The crisis in our judicial system has many causes, but one recurring theme has been that most judges are ill-prepared for the challenges, personal and professional, of a judicial career, and many of them turn out to be ill-suited for the job. On February 16, 2009 the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association (ABA) voted overwhelmingly to approve a resolution and recommendation urging state high courts and state, local, and territorial bar associations to establish voluntary programs of Introductory Judicial Education. Such programs would enable individuals interested in serving on the judiciary to obtain, well in advance of any selection or election process in which they might become involved, a better appreciation of the role of the judiciary and the myriad of challenges judges face both on and off the bench. Armed with that education, a judicial aspirant would be not only better prepared to serve as a judge but also in a far better position to make an informed decision about whether to pursue a judicial career in the first place. This article will consider the concept of Introductory Judicial Education, its underlying rationale and purpose, and the possible curricular content of such a program.

First Page

99

Last Page

148

Publication Date

Spring 2011

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