"Judge Not. . . That Ye Be Not Judged"

"It's "baby-sitter bill," pouted Judge Tomasello of the Boston Municipal Court. He was referring to one of Governor Herter's judiciary bills, the one which would set up a number of courts wholly devoted to juvenile delinquency. Judge Tomasello's opinion is interesting not so much for its content as for the forum from which it was made. He delivered it ex cathedra, from his high bench, in the course of a decision on a case before him.

This wanton abuse of judicial office is not an isolated instance. Rather, it is a dramatic example of what has quietly been going on for several weeks now. A number of judges, for one reason or another, have been lobbying persistently to defeat both bills; they have buttonholed legislators and, in Herter's phrase, "kept the phones buzzing." Their actions, while not successful against the juvenile court bill, contributed to the defeat last week of the District Court bill, which would have changed most of the district judgeships from part-time to full-time jobs and raised the pay. Though both bills have finally been passed, judicial lobbyists are no less a serious problem for that.

Judges have more power than most imagine: particularly, their power to doom or aid legislation by way of construction and administration is immense. The only justification for allowing individuals such sweeping authority is that they use it with the restraint so long associated with their office. "Theirs is not to reason why" is as apt motto for the bench as it is for the Light Horse. Their opinions, whether the legislation involves their own jobs or someone else's, must be limited to determining the legislature's intention, and not what they happen to think of the measure. Whether this detached attitude toward legislation is always possible may be doubtful, but the least one can expect is a single-minded effort on the part of the judges to acquire it.

This, it appears, is not what Massachusetts has been receiving. All judges had an opportunity to comment during committee hearings, and, considering the nature of their duties, that is the sole opportunity they should have. "I don't know," commented Governor Herter, "if it's a matter for the Administrative Committee of the District Courts or the Bar Association," but one thing is clear: it is a matter for one of them.