“Appeals court sides with Doña Ana County clerk in barring judge candidate”

Brian Fraga has this report in the Las Cruces Sun-News about a recent decision of the New Mexico Court of Appeals, upholding the Doña Ana County clerk’s decision to bar a candidate for magistrate court judge from appearing on the ballot because he is not a licensed attorney.  (The opinion has not yet appeared on the websites of the New Mexico Court of Appeals or of the New Mexico Compilation Commission.).

That raises an interesting question — should a judge be required to have a law degree?  People are sometimes surprised to learn that the Constitution does not require justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to have a law degree.  I think most people would want a judge to have some legal knowledge, but if a U.S. Supreme Court justice does not have to have a law degree, why should lower court judges?  What do you think?

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