New System for Judges

This Washington Post article follows the General Assembly's recent activity regarding state judges. New evaluations will be made of each of the state's 400 judges to aide lawmakers in the reappointment process. Lately, ever since the GOP took over the Genereal Assembly, there has been some partisan rancor regarding a few judges who have made some high profile decisions that angered the GOP base.

The idea behind these new evaluations is to curb some of that partisanship. Instead of being judged on anecdotal evidence,

The new rules require that during their terms, judges submit to three evaluations by lawyers, jurors and retired judges. Written questionnaires will ask participants about the judges' demeanor on the bench, the quality of their explanations of opinions and their "professional behavior," among other criteria.

Whether these evaluations will have the desired effect, remains to be seen. The very last line of the article sheds some doubt on whether the GOP will be able to curb their own vilifying tendencies: "If [legislators] want to make it political, they will." (so says Stephen W. Rideout, a retired Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court judge).

No comments yet from either Kaine or Kilgore regarding the issue of judges. Unless a judge akes a controversial decision, the issue should not come up in the race, but it is definitely something to watch out for.

I think that Kaine should at the very least behind the scenes be involved in any plans like the one mentioned in this article. He needs to be seen as the good government candidate, the one that gets the job done and done right.