Why Judicial Elections Make No Sense

Judicial elections make no sense. I just saw a TV advertisement in Michigan called "Fair and Just." (The link is to an announcement of the ads - I couldn't find the video online.) The advertisement is for two judicial candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court and says the following things:

1. The judges will apply the law faithfully.
2. The judges will be TOUGH on crime and they're "law and order" judges.
3. The judges will be "fair and just."
4. Bad decisions can cost us jobs.

The first item is standard dogwhistle code for "These judges are Republicans/loyal conservatives," which apparently the ad is not allowed or not advised to say. Regarding the second and third items, in what universe do those two statements not contradict each other? If you know ahead of time that the judges will be tough on crime, how is it possible that they are either fair or just? Tough on crime inherently means worse for criminal defendants, and regardless of your opinion of criminal defendants, a preordained result is by its nature neither fair nor just. Comparing the first and third statements gives you the same absurd result. This just makes no sense. I'll discuss the fourth point shortly.

Obama's Still Got It (Part I - The Good)

(updated below)

Yesterday, President Obama gave the commencement address at Michigan, and I immediately realized that a) I was basically the only law student that didn't see it (I was at a friend's wedding - congrats again Johnny and Jen!), b) it was worth the hours of waiting in line, and c) it was a speech that could have been designed just for me (I was told so by several friends). So I read through it, and I almost began tearing up and couldn't stop smiling, except in the points where I wanted to yell out that he's being a hypocrite. And again, this was just while I was reading (full text here). But I've also seen enough of his speeches that I could recreate the delivery in my own head. Anyway, given my varied and strong reactions to his address, I figured I'd write about the different parts. This post is incredibly long, so I'll write here about the good, and about the bad separately.