密歇根新闻广播 我们选举法官,但他们都是被任命的

We elect our judges, but they all get appointed

There’s always a debate as to whether judges should be appointed or elected. The one thing everyone agrees on, at least in theory, is that judges should be nonpartisan.

Michigan has an odd hybrid² system that manages to ensure that all these things are both true and false -- especially as far as the State Supreme³ Court is concerned.

On paper, the justices are nonpartisan. But in fact, most are placed on the ballot⁴ by one of the two major parties, whose members have a pretty good idea how that justice is likely to rule.

And most Michigan Supreme Court justices tend to be appointed before being elected. That’s currently the case with five of the seven sitting justices. Nor is this an accident.

In today’s highly partisan¹ world, justices often resign before their term is up, at least partly to allow the governor of their choice to appoint their replacement⁵.

Here’s why that’s important. On Wednesday, Justice Robert Young, who had been chief justice until the start of this year, announced he was resigning at the end of next month.

Justices are elected to eight-year terms, and Young’s latest term didn’t expire till the end of next year. Young is a Republican, and if he completed his term and didn’t run again, it would have meant an open seat with no incumbent⁶ in what could be a good year for the Democrats⁸.

Now, however, Governor Rick Snyder will be able to name a replacement who, you can bet, will be a Republican. That justice will have to run for reelection next year – but not only will they have a year and half to establish a reputation, they will be listed on the ballot as a Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Their opponent will just be a name.

And we are conditioned from commercials to think the name brand is always better than Brand X. That’s why state Supreme Court justices very seldom lose.

There are a couple other peculiarities⁹ regarding the Michigan Supreme Court. Justice Young is leaving at least partly to make money. Supreme Court justices are paid a little less than $165,000 a year, which is less than many young lawyers make.

They haven’t had a raise in fifteen years. We also have age discrimination. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren clearly has a sharp legal mind; she was a professor at Harvard Law School. She could be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But she couldn’t run for the Michigan Supreme Court in 2020 because she’ll be 70 – and this state doesn’t allow anyone to be elected a judge after that date.

When Justice Young’s successor is chosen, it will mean a majority of the seven justices will have been first put there by Rick Snyder. The governor’s choices have generally been praised as jurists of integrity. But is having one politician pick judges the best way to do this?

Five years ago, Former Michigan Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly, a Democrat⁷, a Republican Federal Appeals Judge and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor presided over a blue-ribbon task force which came up with a system to give any governor a choice of the best possible legal minds when vacancies¹⁰ occur.

Unfortunately, the politicians have shown no interest in giving that idea a chance.

Jack¹¹ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio’s Senior Political Analyst¹². Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

2 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

5 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

6 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

10 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。