Great Falls tribune., 1922-04-16
THE QUALIFICATIONS OF
A JUDGE
A SUNDAY SERMON

A JUDGE
A SUNDAY SERMON
Judges and officers shall thou
throughout thy tribes. and they
shall Judge the people with just
judgments. Thou shalt not wrest
5udsments: Thou shalt not not. respect
gift doth blind the eyes Of the
wise, and pervert the words Of tho
righteous. That which 10 altogther
just shalt thou follow, that thou
% WITCH the % Lord. ar thy''es thy God. ~ giveth
thee-Deut- xVI-1S.
THAT was the law Of God as
communicated to Moses and by
him communicated to the children
Of Israel to govern them in the
selection Of judges. It Is good ad-
vice, and by no means obsolete in
these days when civilization has
progressed far beyond the primi-
tive times when Moses made laws
for the former slaves Of Egypt
whom he led out Of bondage into
independence and liberty.
Just now it is worth reading
again for congress has passed a
new law adding 23 new judges to
the federal bench. These men are
appointed for life. One is desig-
mated for the federal district in
which we live, SO that it is a vital
thing to all Of US that we get the
very best man we can for the place.
Now man may be very excellent
man, a very able man, man learned
in the law, a good citizen, and
very poor judge. All the virtues
we have enumerated are requisite
in good judge, but he needs some
thing more. There are two addi-
tional qualities that are important.
As Moses pointed out, he should
be a man who will not "wrest
judgment" to do inequity through
too great a devotion to the letter
Of the law and too little regard for
its spirit, and he should be man
Of judicial mind. BY that we mean
the power Of seeing both sides of
a case. Many good men are in
capable Of doing just that. A judge
with life term of office who can
not be changed once he is indueted
into office should not be too much
enslaved by the letter of the law
and legal precedents of the past.
He should have a realizing sense
of the fact that he is more than
a law judge. He Is also an equity
judge. The courts must be filled
by lawyers, and the practice Of law
tends to exaggerate the importance
of law as compared with equity.
Yet the purpose of law is to secure
equity. It is sometimes said Of
a judge that he is a technical"
judge. What the layn1an at least
means by the term is that is that
the person so described has become
the slave of the letter Of the law
and so exaggerated its importance
that he has lost sight of the spirit
Of the law and the purpose of the
law which is to do equity. We
don't want a technical" judge on
the federal court bench in this dis
trict, if we can avoid it.
Many good men lack the judicial
mind that can put itself in another's
place, see with his eyes and follow
MS metal process, when he is listen
ng to a case. Prejudice clouds the
mental vision. Self-interest per
,erts the words Of the righteous"
Is Moses says. It is therefore i'm
oortant that federal judge ap-
pointed for life should have a judi.
:ial mind that is free from political
religious prejudice, class
and all other kinds of
so that he may see
clearly both sides Of case before
,im for judgment and judge equit-
lbly and without regard to persons.
t is not a reflection on the char
lcter or good citizenship Of a man
o say that he does not possess a
judicial mind. In fact, few of us
10 have quality of mind. 1t is
lift, and rather a rare gift at that.
3ut we want judicial-n,inded men
N the federal bench in these life
'ositions. ....
Now, how are we going to be
ure that we are getting men of
hese qualities7 Certainly not by ;
electing men because they are vet
rams Of the late war, or because
hey have rendered conspicuous
arty service, or because they want
life job at good pay. We ought
o select them because they have :