TV & VIDEO - July 11, 1988

“People’s Court” Judge Joseph Wapner says judges should not be the people’s choice. Wapner, a retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge, said in Reno on Saturday that judges on all levels should be appointed and not elected because, among other reasons, campaign fund-raising beholdens judges to contributors and makes it difficult for them to be fair and impartial. “How can you be independent?” he asked. “Judges shouldn’t run as partisans because they have to be neutral. It’s more important to have an independent judiciary.” Wapner, speaking at a panel discussion on judicial selection and ethics at the National Judicial College, said he favors the life-time appointment of judges along with the creation of state judicial review commissions to remove or discipline them for improprieties.