Do you have Confidence in the District Court?

As far as I can make out it is a bit of a lottery depending who is on the bench. Are we letting people who aren't good enough to be judges up onto the bench. Or are people happy that the various Disctrict Court Judges are competent and dispense justice according to the same standards.

[Libero]

As far as I can make out it is a bit of a lottery depending who is on the bench. Are we letting people who aren't good enough to be judges up onto the bench. Or are people happy that the various Disctrict Court Judges are competent and dispense justice according to the same standards.

Law students are taught these days that rules of evidence and procedure pretty much go out the window when running something in the District Court. Sure, some judges go by the book but others are like Judge Judy with less sense of humour. That's often to the benefit of the "small guy" though, since many businesses will settle rather than risking god-knows-what in the District Court.

Regarding appointments, I think it's pretty hard to ensure that someone WILL be a good judge before their first judicial appointment. Once again, poor and non-existent systems of performance review come into question...

[drjimryan]

the vast difference in sentences handed down would lead me to answer no to this question