Texas Judges Research Paper

In opposition to most states, Texas is one of a handful to do partisan elections to vote for judges. Contrasting viewpoints try to decide on whether the voting system should be partisan or nonpartisan bringing much debate in the election of the judicial candidates. Some argue the system should change because of possible bias both by the electorate and of the judge, others contend it is necessary to know what party the judges affiliate with in order to know what way they lean may lean in their final judgement. Many arguments bring to light the benefits and drawbacks of each system, critiquing the justness, dependability, and impartiality.

The legal framework of a government, which establishes its power and authority as well as the limits on that power is known as Constitution. The Texas Constitution is a legal structure within which government works in Texas as the US Constitution is the legal structure for our national government. Reasonably, even more than US Constitution, the Texas Constitution has an immediate and vast impact on the everyday lives of Texans. The final constitution of Texas was written in 1876 and, in 1875 a constitutional convention was called. The current constitution of the Texas is among the longest of the state constitution in the United States. The Texas constitution performs many important tasks. Although there are rights guaranteed to Texan in Texas constitution that go far beyond those of US constitution addressing issues related to Texans privates lives, there are some weakness that I would like to change if I were given the task of rewrite the Texas Constitution.

The United States Constitution of 1787 was drafted at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which addressed the problems of The Articles of Confederation. The U.S Constitution of 1787 was a document that was used to establish the organization, function, and the power of the government which later replaced The Articles of Confederation. The U.S Constitution suggested that the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land and that it was designed to centralize and increase the government power. On the other hand, Texas Constitution was ratified in 1876, demonstrating a decentralized in the government power.

The Texas Attorney General is as the name implies the legal council for the state. These duties include, but ae not limited too: Enforces the consumer protection laws, collects court-ordered child support, administers the Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund, legal council to board and agencies of state government. The Texas Attorney General is referenced almost 2000 times in the state’s statutes and is burdened with protecting the rights of all citizens through the divisions of the agency. This includes the enforcement of health, safety and consumer regulations and protecting the rights of the elderly and disabled.

In Texas, the Judicial Branch of government contains five different levels of judges; however each distinct type adheres to different qualifications. The lowest level of judges, Justice of the Peace courts, requirements include the completion of a 40 hour course pertaining to their responsibilities within a year of their election, and to continue serving their 4 year term, each year the elected Justice of the Peace official is to complete a similar 20 hour course. Next is the Municipal Courts, whose requirements are set by the people of the city and term length is also 4 years. Succeeding is County level courts which include Constitutional County Courts, Statutory County Court and Probate Courts. For Constitutional County Courts, the term length is 4 years and the only qualification is that the candidate be “well informed in the law of the state”.

In Texas, each county is governed by a five-member Commissioners Court, which consists of a County Judge (elected at-large) and four Commissioners (elected from single-member precincts). The County Judge has no veto authority over the decisions of the Court; they have one vote along with the other Commissioners. In smaller counties, the County Judge also performs judicial functions, while in larger counties their role is limited to the Court. Elections are based on the political parties, Democrat, Republican, Independent and sometimes Libertarian. Counties do not have home rule authority because their authority is strictly limited by the State. Texas counties, merely exist to deliver specific types of services at the local level as prescribed by state law, but cannot enact or enforce local ordinances.

Texas is one of the most important turfs when it comes to election times in America. This is because the state is dominated by the Republican Party after it produced George W Bush as the president of United States of America. The Republican dominates the election into state offices in the region. Political analysts argue that for a person to be elected in Texas they must run on a republican ticket. A lot of people in the state do not know that Texas was once a stronghold for the Democrats. The Democrats controlled the politics of Texas for more than 100 years until the year 1972 (Newell et.al. 2009). It is important to investigate the history and changes in dominant party in the state because it defined the realm of politics among the people.

In the Texas Constitution of 1876, to avoid corruption, instead of all of the executive power being in the hands of the governor, several powerful conservatives decided to implement the plural executive system. Giving more power to the office holders running the state government, as cited from utexas.edu “…Broad powers over the legal system, state budget and finances, education, transportation, agriculture, public utilities, and land development are delegated to officials who need not share the policies nor even be of the same political party as the governor.” Rather than the usual way that is done with the United States government, where you vote for the President, and the president appoints people who he can do essentially what ever he wants

Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee is a translated Chinese mystery story of a judge who investigates three murder cases. While he is solving the cases he sometimes used dreams, fortune telling, and ghosts to help decided on the case. According to the preface, “The law permits the judge to put the question to the defendant under torture, provided that there is sufficient proof of his guilt.” (Judge Dee, p. XVIII). When Judge Dee is in the process of solving the cases he uses torture to get a confession out of all the suspects he interrogates. Since the Judge is using ghosts, dreams, and fortune telling for ways to help him decide the case, it is possible that he will torture an innocent person. A concern for the common people is that he

Texas judges with the exception of municipal judges are on average elected in partisan elections which means candidates are listed to show their political affiliation on the election ballot. In the cases where a vacancy is present the governor will fill the position with whom he chooses which happens often enough to possible cause a political party imbalance.

In the United States, the judiciary is a branch of government. Each branch of government have their own duties and responsibilities, accordingly to the United States constitution. The primary purpose of the judicial system is to serve the people by ensuring equal justice under the law. In this way, The Texas judicial system purpose is to interpret and analyze law. It was created and specified by the United States constitution.

Former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia, died on February 13th, 2016, leaving the Supreme Court with an empty seat. Antonin Scalia was a known conservative and due to his passing the Supreme Court has become split evenly by political party with its remaining eight justices. At the 2016 National Lawyers Convention of the Federalist Society, Senator Ted Cruz addressed a packed room that may be, “… the single largest collection of individuals who are likely to serve in the new administration…” (Robert Barnes, 2016) Many people in attendance were also wondering if Ted Cruz was willing to take up residency in the vacant ninth seat on the Supreme Court. President-elect Donald Trump is the only

Sarah J. Barnett Mr. W. Gissy Econ 2300/05 February 22, 2005 Case Study 1 – Hamilton County Judges 1. Based on the information provided in the Hamilton County Judges’ case study, the probability of cases being appealed and reversed in the three different courts are: a. For the total cases disposed in the Common Pleas Court there is a 0.1129 probability of a case being appealed and reversed. b. For the total cases disposed in the Domestic Relations Court there is a 0.1604 probability of a case being appealed and reversed. c. For the total cases disposed in the Municipal Court there is a 0.2080 probability of a case being appealed and reversed. 2. The probability of a case being appealed, per judge, is: a. Common Pleas Court: Judge Fred

Direct partisan elections in selecting Texas state judges imply that the candidates for the seat should run for office and conduct electoral campaigns just all other candidates running for elective post and office. Such appointment of by use of partisan elections affects professional, independence and accountability of the Texan judges, though to differing and in different ways (Maxwell, Ernest & Mark, 252). To ensure that, the degree which the judges deliver the truth and justice in the most prominent method, indeed, this has to be implemented by the judiciary to help solve the current problem facing the judiciary, and that is the breakdowns and biases contained in the judiciary appointment as such problems are the democracy and freedom

On April 7, 1970 the Detroit Board of Education adopted a plan which provided for changes in twelve out of twenty one high school attendance zones in the city of Detroit, designed to affect a more balanced ratio of Negro and white students at the senior high school level. This plan was going to take effect over a three year period with the purpose of bringing about a decentralized school system within the city which would allow for the election of regional boards which would bring about greater participation at the local level by the community. This was a step towards achieving the goal of the