Navigation Survey: Almost all judges have had to make rulings in line with laws they don’t like
A National Judicial College survey of its alumni and found that nearly nine out of 10 have had to make a ruling in line with a law that, while constitutional, they personally disagreed with.
Nearly 95 percent of the 350 judges who responded said they’d found themselves in that situation a few times (55 percent), more than a few times (27 percent) or often (12 percent), according to the National Judicial College, nation’s oldest, largest and most widely attended school for judges. Only five percent said they had never experienced it. The nonscientific survey was conducted by email in September.
Among the roughly 100 judges who left comments, a common sentiment was that a judge’s job is to apply the law, not write it.
