Judging Credentials

by Provine, Doris Marie

• ISBN13: 9780226684710
• ISBN10: 0226684717
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1986-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Must judges be trained as lawyers in order to be effective in office, or can nonlawyers serve equally well? This question has long provoked controversy among lawyers, judges, legislators, and the public. In her empirical study of the place of the nonlawyer judge in the American legal system, Doris Marie Provine concludes that, despite the opposition of the legal profession to nonlawyer judges, they are as competent as lawyers in carrying out judicial duties in courts of limited jurisdiction. Provine presents a persuasive argument that the case against nonlawyer judges has been weighted in favor of the professional interests of lawyers, not public concerns. Her examination reveals as much about the presuppositions of legal professionals as it does about the competency of nonlawyer judges to old judicial office. To substantiate her claims, Provine has conducted the most comprehensive survey of nonlawyer and lawyer judges yet undertaken, augmenting this material with court observations and extensive interviews of judges. She integrates the results of this survey into the historical context of the lay versus lawyer judge debate, showing how the legally trained judge came to predominate in the American judicial system and analyzing in detail the campaign both in and out of the courts to make legal training a prerequisite for being a judge. Ultimately, Provine suggests, Americans are too committed to the significance of credentials and to the legal profession's vision of the judicial process to respond very favorably to nonlawyer judges, however well they might perform. Judging Credentialswill force lawyers, judges, scholars, and the public to reconsider the role nonlawyer judges play in the American judicial system. Provine's provocative views and exhaustive research adds new dimensions to our understanding of the ethics of professionalism and its consequences.

Author Biography

Doris Marie Provine is associate professor of political science at Syracuse University. She is the author of Case Selection in the U.S. Supreme Court, also published by the University of Chicago Press, and one of the coauthors of Law: Its Nature, Functions, and Limits (third edition). From 1978 to 1982, she served as Town Justice in Virgil, New York.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Lawyers and the Judiciary in Early America Judicial Process in Colonial America Legal Education Becomes a Requirement for Judicial Office Lawyers and Judgeships: Understanding the Convergence Conclusion 2. Twentieth-Century Court Reform and the Lay Judge The Context in Which Lay Adjudication Proceeds Nonlawyer Judges: Recent Themes and Trends Conclusion 3. Lawsuits over Nonlawyer Judges The Constitutional Significance of Legal Learning Conclusion 4. The Impact of Legal Education on Judicial Attitudes and Behavior The Study: Problems, Procedures, and Hypotheses Lay Judges and the Defendant's Right to Due Process Nonlawyer Judges and the Exercise of Discretion Conclusion 5. Nonlawyer Judges and the Image of Justice The Structure of Local Justice in New York Judicial Authority in Justice Court Conclusion 6. Judicial Credentials, Professionalism, and the Rule of Law Lawyers versus Nonlawyer Judges Prevailing Opinion on Lay Judges and the Rule of Law The Credential Issue Elsewhere Conclusion Technical Appendix Notes Index