The Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City is pictured on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
How do we hold judges accountable? This question seems more relevant today than ever, considering recent controversies sparked by federal court decisions and plunging levels of public trust in courts generally. Local judges may have a bigger impact on our lives than federal judges. They make decisions every day about health care, the environment, religious freedom, and voting rights. Their decisions determine what can be built in our neighborhoods, how we vote, and how traffic laws are enforced.
The good news is judges are accountable — to you. In November, your ballot will list judges who need your vote to remain on the bench. But how do you know anything about specific judges if you haven’t spent time in court? This is where the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) can help. JPEC conducts evaluations of Utah judges, supporting the idea that judges are accountable to citizens. Its larger purpose is to strengthen our democratic system. JPEC shares its evaluation results with judges to help them improve and provides information to voters so they can make informed decisions when they vote.
JPEC is an independent, nonpartisan commission that evaluates the professional competence of Utah state judges. To ensure the judiciary remains independent, it does not critique the decisions of judges. Appellate courts do that. Instead, JPEC measures, as judicial scholar Jordan Singer puts it, “the judge’s demonstrated administrative ability, communication skills, legal knowledge, impartiality, and courtroom demeanor (Singer, 2019).” Evaluating specific skills and behaviors helps us to understand how well judges carry out their duties on a regular basis, apart from attention-grabbing judicial decisions.
Judges have few opportunities to receive constructive feedback, so they may not realize how they are perceived. JPEC provides judges with performance evaluations throughout their terms, allowing them to receive routine feedback to improve their performance over time. This process helps our democratic system function more effectively, not because the people tell judges what decisions to make, but because it communicates to judges how well they are living up to their professional responsibilities.
JPEC’s evaluations serve another purpose. For a democracy to thrive, citizens need ways to be informed about their government. Unless you’ve been in court before a judge, most people have no idea how they perform their duties, let alone who they are. So, when it comes time to vote for or against judges on the ballot, voters have limited information available that would allow them to make an informed choice.
JPEC helps overcome this dilemma by collecting information on judges and publishing it on its website. Here, voters can learn how judges perform regarding legal ability, judicial temperament and integrity, and procedural fairness. They can see whether judges meet the minimum performance standards and how they compare to other judges. You, as a voter in the November election, can use this information to decide and vote whether to retain a judge.
Use your voice to hold judges accountable. At judges.utah.gov, you can see how prepared each judge was for court, how well they treated court participants, and whether they conducted court without favoritism. JPEC collects and analyzes judge data, but it does not have a vote on the ballot. Only you can exercise that power at the ballot box.
Holding local judges accountable is a privilege but also a responsibility. Federal judges do not have term limits, nor do they face elections. But judges in Utah serve at the approval of the people, and they are answerable for their conduct at the ballot box. JPEC can help you learn about the judges on the ballot and how they are performing their judicial duties. You can cast an informed vote and ensure the best judges continue serving our communities.