American Government Prospective Federal Judge

Question:-

When a president nominates a prospective federal judge, a number of factors are at play, and the nominee’s qualifications are only one of these. What are the factors reinforce or undermine democratic principles? other factors? Should they be in play? Why or why not?

Answer:-

Besides the qualification of the nominees, other factors considered by the President are the nominee’s experience, political ideology, party and personality loyalties, ethnicity and gender (US History, 2020). Experience is a common consideration because candidates can be nominated for the position of a judge only after acquiring the necessary judicial experience at state or federal level. Political ideologies should not be considered as a criterion because it tends to create bias as Presidents choose nominees with similar ideologies and political favoritism blinds judgement. Therefore, this criterion undermines democracy. Political and personal loyalties are also symbolling of political favoritism and bias and not democratic principles (Chemerinsky, 2003). No matter what the magnitude is, this still remains a consideration which allows the appointment of judges who would not speak against the government. Ethnicity and gender bias had long remained a consideration for appointing judges when only white males were chosen. Changes started occurring from 1961 when African Americans, Latinos, women and others were considered for the position. However, this cannot be said to be undermining the democracy anymore because it has been expanded for better inclusion of qualified judges (Service, 2020). Overall, these factors need to be revised because a judge should be able to pass judgments without bias and favoritism is not a principle of democracy. There are lot more scopes of inclusion that has to be considered and there should be strict laws against political bias and favoritism in the selection process.