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Ann G. Forcier's avatar

That was sobering.

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Savanna King's avatar

Yeah. It really surprised me to learn about this, had no idea until I started looking for information about someone who once ran for justice court judge here & realized they had no legal background at all and it's not a requirement. 😱

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David Shaw's avatar

I live in a county that 20 some years ago was considered the most corrupt in the country, labeled "judicial hellhole." They were all lawyers. For me, the lack of a degree is more concerning as it indicates lack of complex achievement. It doesn't bother me in the least that they do not have a law degree. Many court cases revolve around financial dealings and technical product issues. A degree in science or finance would be more valuable to a judge than a law degree.

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Savanna King's avatar

I would agree with that for some cases! I just think that the person who is the judge needs to know everything that they are expected to know to do the job capably. If they required no formal education at all but had rigorous qualification requirements via testing that would necessitate either a degree or a significant amount of self study to be able to pass I would be okay with that, too. I know some states do allow that route for becoming a lawyer as well (it's very few states and you have to have work experience, too, iirc).

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