Why do we vote to elect judges?

It’s daunting to open your ballot and pour through the dozens of candidates for justices and judges. Madeleine Brand sits down with legal professor Jessica Levinson to discuss the best way to navigate the confusion and go about voting for judges, plus why we even do it.

The governor appoints the justices to the higher courts, so they are not running against an opponent. Voting for or against them is a vote about whether or not that judge can stay on the bench.

When it comes to the lower courts, candidates are running against each other. The Los Angeles County Bar Association ranks the candidates.

But before they dig into the judges, Levinson breaks down the implications of California’s net neutrality bill, which California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has refused to enforce.

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