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Gov. Schwarzenegger Appoints Criminal Defense Lawyer to Bench

By Jeralyn, Section Judiciary
Posted on Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 02:14:13 PM EST
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When appointing judges, so many Governors appoint prosecutors. Very few appoint criminal defense lawyers.

So, props today to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for appointing Jim Collins, a well-known, well-respected, career criminal defense lawyer (and a Democrat) to the San Francisco Superior Court. He's an excellent choice.

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    Gov. Schwarzenegger Appoints Criminal Defense Lawyer to Bench | 6 comments (6 topical)

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    Man bites dog, makes news. (none / 0) (#1)
    by scribe on Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 02:34:30 PM EST
    Usually, it's the prosecutor getting appointed and that makes no news.

    Sadly, I've gotten so cynical about this over the years that I suspect either Ah-nalt is either getting out of the way someone who wins too many cases for the defense, or is looking at being a defendant (himself or a friend) and is trying to game the system.

    I wish more defense lawyers and people who represented little people in their PI and other matters got appointed to the bench, because we might some semblence of even-handed justice.  I'd like to win the lotto, too....

    Herr AH-nold's judicial appointments ... (none / 0) (#5)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 07:05:52 AM EST
    ... have been, on average, surprisingly moderate, and look leftist compared to those made by his most of his fellow GOP governors in their own respective states. Further, his appointments to the bench have also been noteworthy for their ethnic and gender diversity - in fact, that diversity now actually exceeds California's percentage of minority and female attorneys.

    Gov. Schwarzenegger has been rightly chastised for a good many things, but his quest to significantly diversify his state's judiciary deserves just praise. No doubt, he's been influenced heavily by Judicial Appointments Secretary Sharon Majors-Lewis, a 60-year-old African-American who the governor chose to advise him for just this purpose, after he received criticism for his selections during his first two years in office.

    [ Parent ]

    Oh for gawd's sake There are (none / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 05:40:24 PM EST
    good and lousy judges from both prosecutor and defense side of the bar.  

    not the point at all (none / 0) (#3)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 06:50:44 PM EST
    and spoken like a true former prosecutor. The point is prosecutors are overwhelmingly appointed to the bench over criminal defense lawyers out of an irrational fear the defense lawyers, once appointed, will not be tough enough on crime. Former prosecutors are no more qualified than defense lawyers to be judges and the imbalance is unwarranted.

    [ Parent ]
    Blackberry induced error l (none / 0) (#4)
    by oculus on Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 02:26:58 AM EST
    My comment was supposed to be a reply. I agree proscutors are appointed in much greater numbers. Governors are politicians and don't want to appear as soft on crime either.

    [ Parent ]
    Rumor has it the Governor is not appointing (none / 0) (#6)
    by oculus on Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 07:39:10 AM EST
    highly qualified Caucasians of either gender at this point.  

    Gov. Schwarzenegger Appoints Criminal Defense Lawyer to Bench | 6 comments (6 topical)

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