What keeps a judge from making whatever decision they want when dealing with criminal court cases?

Question

What keeps a judge from making whatever decision they want when dealing with criminal court cases?

In: 3

Answer 1

Judicial rulings are subject to an appeals process. There are two main reasons that you can appeal a decision – error in fact, or error in law. If the judge “made up whatever decision they wanted,” you would have grounds to appeal for error in law – error in law essentially means that the judge didn’t apply the law properly.

A judge who constantly has his decisions tossed out on appeal isn’t going to be a judge for much longer.