NCJ Number
87704
Date Published
1981
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Mississippi's mandated judicial selection system -- partisan elections with gubernatorial appointments to interim vacancies -- is not implemented in practice, since few judgeships are contested in elections and the governors traditionally defer to others in making judicial appointments.
Abstract
Election data and field interviews with Mississippi judges and lawyers were analyzed to assess the openness of the judicial recruitment process and the competitiveness of judicial elections. Further, mail questionnaire survey data were used to assess the attitudes of Mississippi judges and lawyers toward various aspects of the selection process. Because the local bar exercises the most pervasive influence over the judicial selection process, the selection system might be characterized as 'bar anointment.' The local bar generally anoints one of its number to stand (generally uncontested) in judicial elections. Also, the governors normally accede to the wishes of the local bar in making interim appointments. The involvement of the bar in judicial selections may be inevitable due to the unattractiveness of Mississippi judgeships. The lawyer survey indicated that most are discouraged from seeking judgeships because of the relatively low salary and short term of office, combined with a perceived need to become involved in partisan politics; however, the closed recruitment process predicated by the 'bar anointment' may add enough prestige to the judicial office to compensate for the unattractive aspects of judgeships. This narrows the interested field of lawyers however, to those drawn to judgeships by the prestige factor, which may not include the most qualified. Tabular data, 12 notes, and 28 references are provided.