Every time we have an election, there are local judges on the ballot to be confirmed by the electorate. Often, the only information available on these people is their statement in the voter guide. Yes, you can look them up online—but how many people do? How is the information filtered by your search engine?

In my experience, you’re voting for a big unknown most of the time. Candidates that somebody vetted, no doubt, but who?  I believe it’s time to change this. Many of these people cut their teeth on a local level and then end up climbing the ladder to higher-status courts. Those courts, at least in my state of California, seem to rule with scant regard for the law, whether state or federal. It’s not just in the legislature that California, for lack of a better term, is run by whackadoodles.

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Here’s an example why: A story came through Newsbreak to my inbox. It had a link to this SF Chronicle article. In case you don’t feel like reading that mostly worthless publication, let me distill what it says: UC Berkeley declines to hire illegal aliens, except for a small number of DACA people with federal work permits. “[T]he university has a long-standing policy of denying jobs to other undocumented migrants who lack federal work permits, saying it is unwilling to risk potentially costly legal actions by U.S. officials.”

Sound reasonable? Of course it does! Smart, even. But of course, a group of undocumented students,” supported by” unnamed (but you can certainly guess) “labor organizations,” sued. The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco dismissed the suit. Good for them!

But wait…it’s not over by a long shot. The state Supreme Court reinstated the case and had the appellate court reconsider it. Just yesterday, that court said UC’s policy “discriminates based on immigration status” and may violate California’s employment law. They go on to say the university “abused its discretion by relying on an improper justification for continued application of its facially discriminatory policy.” This, mind you, in a 3-0 ruling, based on California employment law.

California is relentlessly liberal, save a few inland counties. Sometimes, living in the Bay Area, I question whether my vote is a simple exercise in futility. The state legislature is a one-party affair. Laws are passed and signed by Governor Hairgel that make little sense. It takes a concerted effort to change any of these bad laws, as witnessed by the fact that voters finally had to go to the ballot box to get Proposition 36 passed last November. That Proposition finally repealed the incredibly stupid legislation allowing theft of up to $950 not to be a felony. The fiscal impact of that legislative boondoggle has been profound, as thousands of businesses were closed because rampant theft bankrupted them.

The legislators cook up a mess of bad laws, and judges uphold them even when they are obviously counter to national law. I have some empathy for UC Berkeley—a rare feeling, indeed. They are caught, here, between a rock and a hard place. I hope they connect with whoever at the federal level they need to, to get some help fighting this bit of anti-American jurisprudence.