Is it legal to be a Judge, never having been a Lawyer, no formal education ie: Law school, degree's ect...

Question

There's a Judge in a small town in TN, he has never had schooling, or been a Lawyer, he's been voted in simply because it's been handed down through the family, now they're going to elect a new Judge, who knows if any of them have any background in law, and as far as the law goes..it's a joke too.. theres a guy running for "Sheriff" who's a barber/cigarette shop owner, i don't recall him ever having been an officer of the law a day in his life.
I can't believe all this is legal, kinda makes you wonder what kinda country we got going here, is he gonna stop in the middle of a haircut to run out and catch the bad guy?

well it all spells out backwoods dirty politics to me, the guy was in and out of trouble, he was in reform school as a teenager, I was always under the impression to be a judge you had to have college, and law school, had to have been a lawyer and all that, kinda makes you wonder why go through all that if you can just get voted in.
I'm not from TN and my Nephew (who lives in Detroit) wanted to become a court officer, and they told him he'd have to go through schooling for that, something seems wrong with the system.
To the person who said this is one of our freedoms, true we are free to vote for who we think is the best person for the position, but it doesn't mean it's right that this guy just gets in because he has strings, and by doing none of the work and having the education of a real Judge.
I've seen more than a little corruption in this place, and I'm told just about every county in TN is basically corrupted.

This yr. he's retiring, and I'm sure his bank acct. is pretty healthy, ohh i've sat and watched him run the court, keeping everyones bond money even when they're found innocent, calling it "court costs" and imposing $1000's of dollar fines on people, and sometimes a same fine on a lesser charge..I'm pretty sure he's been content to stay right where he's at throughout his career .
Oh btw way hi Ganch, what's a Tamil?..lol

Answer 1

anyone can run for office and hold a position as an elected official.No schooling is required.It is up to the person running to campaign for the position and presuade the people of the town,city,state or wherever he is running that he/she can do the job and is the best person for the job.It is up to the people to make their decision on who they want to vote for.This is one of our freedoms.

Answer 2

This is called a lay judge and it is very legal to hold this office without the legal training and education. These individuals usually do not receive any support from the local bar associations or legal entities and so it is very difficult for them to be elected. Most judges do have legal degrees, usually a doctorate in law and have a history as a practicing attorney. This is usually necessary in order to avoid conflicts in handing down decisions and getting decisions overturned on appeal. However any judge can utilize a legal library and look up precident and applicable proceedure. Every courthouse in the U.S. has a very complete and competent legal library. The judge may also have on staff a qualified attorney to assist them with the cases. So this is not as big of a problem as it might otherwise look to be.

Answer 3

this is interesting you have noticed this did you know these jobs are paid by state treasurey and these people get paid the same if they judge one case a year or a hundred and the sherrif need not make an arrest or even do much of anything they have a post master mayor several key government jobs i went to a lawer with a friend down in the country in kentucky the lawyer was the judge and the sherrif her ex husband had a hundred and fifty acre cattle ranch that was over grown with pot plants and had 10 cows on it she tried to serve him with court papers and almost got arrested i told her we should go and the sherrif judge lawyer suggested it was a good idea. so i am not suprised by this elected and appointed positions have no educational requierments only age restrictions

Answer 4

It all depends on the State laws and regulations. Texas has over 420 counties. In each county, there is a County Judge who hears certain types of misdemeanor cases. Most cases are heard by the city judge (*municipal court") the Justice of Peace or the District Judge. In Texas, almost 80% of the County judges are NOT lawyers. If elected to that position, they attend classes to learn their duties. I would think that each state has its own requirements as to what qualifications a person may have to have to hold a particular position

As far as your sheriff is concerned. as background in law enforcement may be desired - but not required. If he/she is a good manager, you need a good staff to advise you to learn the ropes - but you don' t need to be an expert in that field.

Answer 5

Tennessee has a lot of odd laws. As far as my understand goes, Tennessee allows certain individuals to hold the position of Magistrate without any training or education, in certain circumstances. In Florida you have to be a lawyer in good standing with the Florida Bar before you can run for judgeship.

Answer 6

Are you a Tamil? So am I! It is totally illegal to be a judge if you have no educative backgroung in law. One is required to have completed a decade of practice as a lawyer before he/she can be eligible for the post of a judge. Such illegal things are made successful through bribery of the officials concerned. I sincerely hope corruption stops soon.

Answer 7

About 40 States allow non lawyers to hold limited-jurisdiction judgeships, but opportunities are better for those with law experience.

Answer 8

its an elected position, also known as a popularity contest

Answer 9

look it up ,you don't even need to be a lawyer to be on THE SUPREME COURT of THE UNITED STATES!!!!

Answer 10

yes