Question on Supreme Court Justices for NYS, mine are selected for me since they always run unopposed

[Saltwater60]

This has aggravated me for quite sometime now and every time there are Supreme Court judges for NYS on the ballot and I think all court justices there is never a choice. It disgusts me and I’m wondering if your areas are the same as mine. I always wrote someone or something in and never “vote” for a selected candidate. I’m told the morons that be get together and each side selects a candidate for us and they run unopposed. Picture of my sample ballot below and do you guys in other counties face the same BS.

 

[dsdmmat]

I always wrote my wife’s name on the ballot when someone was running unopposed.

 

[Saltwater60]

I always wrote my wife’s name on the ballot when someone was running unopposed.

I wrote things like anyone but this , why no one else, Donald Trump, or other stupid things. My problem is all Supreme Court justices for my county run unopposed every time there is an election since I’ve started voting. My dad said the leaders of the republican and democrat for Erie county get together and say you pick one, now I pick one, and so on and so forth. I’m wondering how widespread this is because this isn’t an election it’s a selection.

 

[Catskillkid]

I totally get what you're saying. In a perfect world, all judges would be nonpartisan and follow the Constitution. We all know that's not the case. An optimist would say that each Party would vet the candidates and as long as they fall within legal/Constitutional bounds cross-indorsement shouldn't be a problem. But this is no perfect world. In fact, it is incredibly corrupt. I can't speak for the judges on your ballot (they may be fine upstanding legal scholars) but all too often they're political hacks.

 

[Catskillkid]

I'll also add that many States don't elect judges, they're appointed by commissions. I college friend of mine form New Jersey who went on to become a lawyer said this is how they select judges there.

 

[Saltwater60]

I totally get what you're saying. In a perfect world, all judges would be nonpartisan and follow the Constitution. We all know that's not the case. An optimist would say that each Party would vet the candidates and as long as they fall within legal/Constitutional bounds cross-indorsement shouldn't be a problem. But this is no perfect world. In fact, it is incredibly corrupt. I can't speak for the judges on your ballot (they may be fine upstanding legal scholars) but all too often they're political hacks.

It’s funny you say this and in the past I have tried to look them up and they don’t really ever say much about them. If we’re voting for them there should be a choice and that’s why this bothers me.

 

[Zerex]

In NYS, like a small 1950's town in Mississippi......... THE GOO OL BOYS NETWORK decides who gets the judgeships............I have a first cousin who was a NYS Supreme Court Judge for a decade but lost the nomination, as he switched parties and became a Dem..........

All legal cases are "fixers"...scratch my back and I will scratch yours......."ham and eggers" --poor attys who hang around courthouses,looking for assigned counsel,court work, make deals all the time to continue to get work.

It is corrupt to a fault.