Is the Courts in New Mexico Up for Sale

With the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to give businesses unlimited ability to spend money on elections we are now faced with the fact that those businesses can now spend huges amounts of money to replace our judges with individuals that are bought and paid for by corporations.

On the other hand we do not want judges appointed for life by individuals who do not have to answer to the public because that would allow corporations to buy those people in secret and then the judges would again feel no need to care what people think or how their decisions would effect the public.

Do we as the people want a republican governor to be the one to pick our future court and then allow them to stay on the bench for life? How is that fair or balanced for any New Mexican?

Clearly we need a system where judges are chosen for their skills in the law and their ability to refuse to take sides on any issue until they hear the facts in the cases. This takes a system where people should only be allowed to run for the bench if they prove to a non-partisan selection group that they have the needed skills to run for the position. Then it should be left up to the voting public without the aide of corporate money to decide who is best suited for the bench.

Humble does not come from a system where judges appointed by one high ranking individual feel they are above the voters in any possible shape for form. Clearly most lawyers in this state think they are smarter then the voting pubic. It is through the election process of meeting common people and learning about them that lawyers who are known for large egos are forced to humble themselves to the very people that will appear before them on future cases which teaches them the very important skill of being a good and caring judge.

We as the voting public need to encourage our lawmakers in Santa Fe to create laws that would prohibit businesses from spending large sums of money on our local judicial races. We want laws that would encourage future judges to get out and speak with the voting pubic because I can tell you from personal experience that once elected you will never see the judges again unless you appear before them in a court of law. Of course there are a few exceptions to that rule. I can name two individuals and that is all. Ask yourself when was the last time you saw a sitting judge in this state? Which speaks to the need for elections to retain judges in this state.