Can a person be a judge and a Libertarian?

News & commentary from the liberterrain...

Given the libertarian tenet that everyone has the right to do as they choose as long as they don't initiate or threaten force or fraud against anyone else, how can a person be both a Libertarian and a judge?

Wouldn't libertarian judges have to recuse themselves from every victimless crime case on the books?

The Libertarian Party of Texas lists six judges running for election in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area: three for County judgeships, two for Court of Criminal Appeals, and one for Supreme Court justice.

Michael Schrader, LP candidate for Dallas County Judge, explains on his website that county judges aren't what you think judges are. They don't sit on a bench, wear a robe or pound a gavel.

The county judge is simply the chairman of the County Commission, "a board of five that runs the county, including setting tax rates and spending priorities for the county."

And that explains why Schrader can take libertarian positions against such issues as the Trinity River Project (the "Engineer and Contractor Employment Plan"), The Victory Project "a textbook example of the 'Power of Pull'"), Social Engineering ("making political decisions based on a feeling"), Public health ("Since the public health services are not reaching the public, we need to seriously revisit whether we need public health services at all"), Doing Business with Dallas County ("is ultimately an exercise in futility and frustration"), Set-asides ("a fancy word for 'quotas'"), and in favor of Privatization ("Repeat after me: "The government should not compete against the private sector!'").

But the opening question remains for the two candidates for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This court is just what it sounds like, a "court of last resort" that reviews cases in which defendants have been convicted of a crime.

So wouldn't a Libertarian judge be ideologically bound to overturn everyone's conviction of a victimless crime?

Unfortunately, the two LP candidates for these positions (Place 2 and Place 6) don't seem to have websites yet, it being early in the campaign season, so we'll have to wait to find out how a person can be simultaneously a Libertarian and a Criminal Appeals Court judge.

And ditto for the Texas Supreme Court. Again, the LP's only area candidate has no website up and running to answer the question, what would a Libertarian Supreme Court Justice look like?

Until then, you'll have to judge for yourself.