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Comment by testvox | Hacker News Reader

Judges in many parts of the United States are elected, so there is no particular guarantee they have studied anything.

Ones that aren't elected are appointed. Typically they're appointed because they're related or friends with the elected officials doing the appointing (My dad is a court officer in NY state - he's seen over and over again that nepotism is absolutely the norm and not the exception for all appointed positions). Any merit judges have compared to a baseline lawyer is basically accidental.

I feel like citing that it's just nepotism is not entirely accurate.

Judges are lawyers, but the approval process and performance of judges who are willing to follow the rule of law and rule in ways that aren't simply in line with "nepotism" is significant.

Even existing supreme court justices appointed have not taken actions that the folks who appointed / approved them might wish... that's a good thing.

> Typically they're appointed because they're related or friends with the elected officials doing the appointing

I don't think that's completely accurate. It's very much party politics at the local level. Party hacks are rewarded. (Which may look like friends and family, but party discipline is highly enforced AFAIK)

you still need to have at least a JD from an ABA-accredited school and admission to the state bar. There are some corner cases where this isn't true, but they're for misdemeanors and defendants have the right to have a Real Judge review their case.

This varies between municipalities. Many don't have any requirements.

Oh, wow. That explains a lot of things I couldn't understand from news I read.

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