Read this account of the Judicial Services Commission, in which a seemingly thoughtful and knowledgeable judge candidate is subjected to a series of attacks over his religious views, his race, the fact that he’s not part of the same club as one of his interlocutors, and a trumped-up accusation that he destroyed the career of a black lawyer (who later turns out to have been a thief). To state the obvious, having capable people in the judiciary is really, really important, and if this how we go about selecting them, that’s a very bad thing.