You have no idea how pleased I am that I'm not the only one who's exasperated by the name calling! I've been losing respect for a few people who seem to feel the need to do that. It's really not helping at all.
You can vote on your judges there!? Wow! Imagine the difference that could make in the justice system. It's interesting that those things aren't being made the most of. The US was an innovation in freedom for all people and the system was set up for them to have that say and continue to be involved, precisely to stop it reverting back to the rule of the few. If people can't be bothered to do their research and have their say in the things they are still able to, then do they even deserve freedom? Freedom is taking responsibility for yourself and it's not easy. However, we are, by nature, lazy and prefer someone else to make all the hard choices and do all the hard work for us.
We can, though it might not be everywhere. Voting on judges might just be a Colorado thing? I don't know for sure.
And yeah - it could make a real difference, but almost always people just vote to let them stay. I don't know if anyone has even been ousted by a vote, ever, because of how many people skip it or just automatically approve or always go with the recommendation (our information booklet - CONVENIENTLY MAILED TO US - has a review for all the judges up for a vote that round that includes a recommendation from a review board, and survey results from citizens who have had cases in front of them, lawyers, and other judges regarding how that judge does with certain metrics). The official review board pretty much always recommends they be retained, I don't know if I've ever seen them recommend otherwise, but I read the whole review with the survey info and such and if I think someone sounds problematic, I will vote no. Like sometimes you'll see some citizens or lawyers thinking the judge has some bias issues or something like that, but the review board still recommends them to stay. It's hard to get people to dislodge the status quo.