Electing Judges

I was driving this morning and finished listening to the book I had on CD, so I switched to NPR's Morning Edition. One of the stories was about when a judge should recuse him/herself and a case being argued in the US Supreme Court today.

I was amazed to hear that there are over 35 states where judges are elected. Maybe it is my naivete from having lived so long in states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) where the judges are appointed by the Executive Branch and confirmed by the Legislative, to think about this. However, judicial election signs have sprung up in New Orleans.

But then I remember the election in Wisconsin last April. It was a pretty mean and dirty campaign. In composing this, I found a new web source, "Judgepedia" which has an interesting overview of the upcoming Wisconsin election. There is a long discussion on the Judgepedia page about some of the discussion of the pros and cons of judicial appointment as opposed to electing judges.

Maybe this was in my "scope" because yesterday I read the latest issue of "Deliberations Newsletter" from ALA's professional Parliamentarian, Eli Mina. While the newsletter is not archived on his web site (that I could quickly find), let me quote what resonated with me upon hearing the judge story on NPR:

Sometime ago I sat in as an observer at an orientation session for a newly elected municipal council. The guest speaker was a former mayor and an experienced politician. He provided useful advice, but there was something he did that annoyed me: Every few sentences he would insert phrases like: "and this will help you get re-elected" or "this is one thing you definitely cannot afford to do, even if you know it's needed, because it will surely undermine your ability to get re-elected" and, to cap it all: "every decision you make over the next three years must be guided by one key question: will it get you re-elected?"

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was annoyed. I was delighted to hear the newly elected mayor finally interrupt the speaker and make this refreshing statement: "Sir, I can assure you that getting re-elected is the last thing on my mind and I believe on the minds of my colleagues. With all due respect, we ran for office to help make a difference for the community of today and the community of tomorrow. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we cannot afford to be distracted by the fear of not get re-elected. This whole thing is not about us as individuals, but about what we do collectively to advance the interests of our community." I had to resist the temptation to shout: "Hurrah !!"

Thinking about running for re-election and electiong judges, certainly puts the Supreme Court case in a different light!

Reflections

I have been thinking about this post since last week, and it is a collection of some random items.

First, it wasn't until Thursday that I realized that Darwin and Lincoln were born on the very same day. Not just the same month and day, but month, day, and year. At the same time, I can't quite draw any parallels or great meaning from it. I also found it interesting that I did not hear anyone else mention this odd fact.

Second, it is spring in Louisiana! I get up pretty early to get ready and then drive to work. It used to be dark almost all the way to work, but now, it is almost light when I leave the house. That also means I get to see what is along side the highway. The trees are beginning to leaf out. There are some which I would have referred to "red bud" trees, not unlike the maples in New England, and others are turning green at the tips. Part of my journey is over bridges at the end of Lake Pontchartrain, and more is on bridges over marshes and swamps. There are not a lot of exits in the middle part of the trip, but there are lots of trees. When I first visited Baton Rouge it was just after Gustav and Ike, it seemed that many of the trees were stripped of their leaves. It will be interesting to see how they come back.

Third, I realized this morning that this is the first time in my life that I have commuted on an Interstate. In Arizona, I took the bus to and from work. For my first job in Connecticut, it was all city streets. The next job was a commute on the Merritt Parkway to Wilton, and the job after that was on both the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkway to Hamden, including a trip through Connecticut's one and only tunnel. Then it was back to city streets. When I lived in Wisconsin, it was also city streets.

Fourth, it is Mardi Gras time! Parades are going in earnest every night in New Orleans. For those who want to know the date into the future, here is a link, and here is the list of dates:

• February 16, 2010
• March 8, 2011
• February 21, 2012
• February 12, 2013
• March 4, 2014
• February 17, 2015
• February 9, 2016
• February 28, 2017
• February 13, 2018
• March 5, 2019
• February 25, 2020
• February 16, 2021

See you here??

Running for ALA Council

I have not seen the final list of candidates yet for the ALA Council election this spring, but I am on that list. Please vote for me.

You will get lots of votes (if you are an ALA Member), and another one of the candidates has posted a video to a new-to-me web video service, blip tv. First a link to the video, and then here it is embedded:





More discussions on ALA Council and elections to follow.

Amost Friday Funny

For a while, there was a PUBLIB tradition that jokes, gags, etc. would be reserved for Fridays. (Actually if I remember, there was also a discussion about putting [Job Ad] as part of the header, and maybe only certain days, etc. It was back in the 1990's!) Even today, if something humorous is posted, a reference is made to it either being Friday or not.

That is what inspired my title.

Here is what I have to offer:

Don't click here!

Came to me from Twitter, but the "tiny url" which was imbedded was blocked!

Have fun, don't say I did not warn you!

ALA Council - What is it all about

This was shown at ALA Midwinter, and has now been posted on YouTube



I know all the players.....I recommend watching if you want to know more about serving on Council. The list of candidates for this year will be out shortly! It is too late to get on the ballot this year (by ALA Bylaws, petitions need to be in by January 30.) There is always next year.

I am running this year, please vote for me.