Please respond to the students essay answer in reply to the following discussion question. Do you agree or disagree with the students essay? Is there something you feel that they left out? You are to pose a question to the student about their essay within your reply. Please use course text materials and at least one scholarly source (other than the assigned course text) to support your response. The response should demonstrate the application of theory, law, policy, practice, and/or scholarly literature
Discussion Question:
How has the composition of the bench changed over the past several decades? Should efforts be made to speed the process of change? If so, how?
Discuss how the composition of the bench has changed over the past several decades and if efforts should be made to speed the process of change. The composition of the bench has changed in being more diverse and not made up of merely white men, instead there are now women and minorities elected to the bench. Chin (2009) stated that fifty years ago it was merely a dream to imagine a path leading from the potato fields to a law degree and on to the district attorney’s office, on to a
prestigious law firm partner and then being appointed to a superior court judge, to the court of appeals and finally to California’s highest court. According to Chin (2009), the number of ethnic minority trial judges today, in our states has reportedly grown to nearly 23 percent, the percentage for court of appeal justices is now 18 percent, and from Chin’s own court,three out of seven justices are from ethnic minority groups and three justices are women. Additionally, Chin (2009), proclaimed that on the road to diversity in the legal
profession, the theme of the next step may be aptly titled, “We’ve come a long way but we still have a long way to go.” Chin (2009) declared that we must pursue to enhance the quality of our justice system. Furthermore, Chin (2009) stated that race relationships are getting better but programs to improve race relations have been quite mixed- with some working, some not working and some with unmitigated disasters, The author noted that Arthur Schlesinger was positive in
highlighting specific points of
progress and took specific note of the appointment at that time of General Colin Powell, the first African American chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staffs. Chin (2009)
proclaimed it would be interesting to know what Schlesinger would say when we had the first African American president, who in turn
nominated the first Hispanic and third female to the United States Supreme Court. Furthermore, Chin (2009) contended that the public’s respect for judgments and the courts and the importance of judicial integrity are reasons why increasing diversity on the bench is so imperative. Additionally, Chin (2009) contended that with diversity on the bench at all levels, it will seek to improve the
quality of the justice system and to enhance the public perception of courts as fair, impartial, and
independent, thus increasing diversity on the bench enhances trust and confidence. The composition of the bench
has definitely come a long way and with more females and minorities on
the bench there is representation of
more people as a whole. If the judicial system is to be fair, bias and
independent then although we have moved towards improvement we don’t need to slack up. Hobbs (2017) stated that representation can be delineated between the concepts of ‘standing for’ and ‘acting for’. Additionally, Hobbs (2017) stated that judges are required to perform their duties and exercise their powers “honorably, faithfully,impartially and conscientiously’, to”do right to all manner of people according to law without fear of
favour, affection or ill will and should not be seen to act for, or as representatives of, any particular interest.
Course Text:
Title: Americas Courts and the Criminal Justice System, 13th ed. Authors: David W. Neubauer and Henry F. Fradella Publisher: Cengage
Year Published: 2019 ISBN: 13-9781337557894
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