Bloomberg: N.Y. judicial process a 'farce'

Bloomberg: N.Y. judicial process a 'farce'

Bloomberg: N.Y. judicial process a 'farce'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg took on the state's judicial nominating system Sunday, calling it a "farce" in which politics and "shady back-room deals" put unqualified jurists on the bench.
The mayor, fresh off a re-election victory, called for the creation of independent commissions to approve judicial candidates before their names appear on the ballot.
"We must change the farce of 'electing' judges, which bears more of a resemblance to voting in the Soviet Union than in the United States of America," Bloomberg wrote in an opinion article published in Sunday's New York Daily News.
Bloomberg called for new state legislation to create independent commissions that would be required to establish whether judicial candidates are qualified. The political parties shouldn't nominate anyone not approved by those commissions, the mayor wrote.
While most of New York City's judges are competent, Bloomberg wrote, "some judges have been selected because they paid off a local political leader or agreed to hire a particular law clerk."
He referred to several scandals involving Brooklyn judges, and said nine candidates on the most recent ballot were deemed unqualified by most major bar associations. A judicial corruption probe in Brooklyn also is looking into alleged buying of judgeships.
Judicial reform bills are pending in the state Legislature. One would require state Supreme Court candidates to go through a primary election. Another would require candidates to go through party-sponsored screening panels.