Judge (2000 AD)


Judge is a title held by several significant characters in Judge Dredd and other series which appear in the British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine. In the fictional future history of the series, the role of "Judge" combines those of judge, jury and police officer, thus avoiding long legal wrangles by allowing for criminals to be tried and sentenced on the spot. Since they overthrew the U.S. Constitution in 2070, Judges have also held supreme political power in Mega-City One. Collectively they are known as the Justice Department.

Overview

In the comic strip, Judges are the product of many years' training and psychological conditioning. Training, which takes place in the Academy of Law, generally begins at age five. The Judges recruit promising children, and grow their own clones. Judge Dredd is himself a clone of the Judges' founder, Chief Judge Fargo.
Their standard issue firearm is the Lawgiver handgun, which can fire six different kinds of ammunition. It has a handprint-reading sensor which only allows its owner to use it, and a self-destruct device to kill or maim unauthorised users. Judges ride Lawmaster bikes, which are heavily armed and have artificial intelligence.
The Judges themselves are not above the law – a violation that would earn a citizen a few months in an Iso-Cube may earn a Judge a twenty-year sentence of hard labour on Saturn's moon, Titan, after surgical modification to enable the convict to survive Titan's atmosphere. They were also expected to live in celibacy, to avoid personal attachments that might bias them or make them vulnerable to manipulation and blackmail.
For most of the strip's history, the Judges are led by a Chief Judge and a Council of Five. The Judges have their own domestic intelligence division, and their own medical facilities. There are a number of specialist divisions within the Judges, notably Psi Division, which consists of psychic judges used to predict the future and read minds, and Tek Division, made of forensic scientists and engineers. The SJS monitor and police the Judges internally.
The majority of Judges reside and spend their limited free time in their sector houses. However, they have the right to own personal property or live in private residences. Dredd himself for much of the early years lived in an apartment in Rowdy Yates block and upon moving out was shown to have kept mementos of his early career.
In the Judge Dredd future history, the Judge System originated in the United States, but spread around the world. In most of these nations the Judges control all aspects of the government; but differ in customs: the Judges of Ireland, for example, are allowed to drink and smoke, or be married, whereas MC-1 Judges have virtually no private life. Corruption is endemic amongst the Judges of Brit-Cit, and bribery is often essential to progress through the ranks.
Block Judges also hear civil cases in each City Block, where they try compensation claims, libel, slander, divorce, alimony, and small claims matters.
Notable Judges appearing in the series include Anderson, Hershey, Kraken, two different Judge Giants, and the eponymous Judge Dredd himself.

Divisions/Bodies

Within the Mega-City One legal system there are numerous bodies and divisions who have specialised tasks:
In 2134, there was an across-the-board divisional merger, creating:
Before becoming fully fledged street judges, cadet judges usually must spend 15 years at the Academy of Law, where they receive intensive training and conditioning.
A cadet is inducted into the Academy either as a cloned infant, or as a child aged five. After this, unsupervised contact with the city outside is forbidden, in order to maintain the strictest discipline and mental conditioning.
Cadet Judges must leave both the Academy and the city itself during their "Hotdog Run": a training mission into the Cursed Earth, to test the cadets under combat conditions; fatalities are not unknown. A senior Judge will command and assess the cadets during the Hotdog Run.
On graduating from the Academy, cadets become known as rookie judges. A rookie's uniform is similar to that of a full judge, with two differences: the helmet is white rather than black and red, and the badge consists of only one half of a full judge's badge and does not show the rookie's name..
Before becoming a full judge, a rookie must undergo assessment by a more experienced Senior Judge. The failure rate is extremely high, and the few who pass their Final Assessment exchange their white helmet and "half-eagle" for the black and red helmet and "full eagle" at a brief ceremony before the chief judge.
Notable characters seen taking their final assessments are the original Judge Giant, the other Judge Giant, Judge Rico, Judge Kraken, and Dredd himself. The 2012 film Dredd depicts Judge Anderson's final assessment.
Cadets who fail to graduate are expelled from the Academy. Rookies who fail their final assessment earlier had no right of appeal, but this is no longer the case. Failed cadets and rookies are either employed as auxiliaries or leave the Justice Department altogether.
Ever since the Day Of Chaos storyline, the department has taken on retrainees; judges transferred from other megacities to bolster their ranks.

Retirement

When a street judge retires from service at the end of his career, he may choose to take the "Long Walk," leaving Mega-City One for exile outside its borders. He may do this either in the Cursed Earth, a radioactive desert outside the city walls, or in the Undercity, the ruins of New York that lie beneath the mega-city. The Long Walk begins with a brief ceremony at the city gates, wherein the retiring judge walks through an honour guard of judges as they discharge their firearms into the air, while another judge formally bids him farewell. Judges who take the Long Walk are expected never to return, but to die "bringing law to the lawless."
Retiring judges may also be placed in administrative or teaching posts instead of taking the Long Walk. Others may simply leave and voluntarily become ordinary citizens, having grown tired of the strict life of a judge, although such cases are rare. However, the Long Walk is often chosen by judges who have been subject to disciplinary proceedings for misconduct not warranting criminal prosecution. Despite their effective exile, Cursed Earth judges can be called up by active street judges on missions in the Cursed Earth for assistance, once they have discharged their duties to the city, the retired judge is still forbidden from returning to Mega City One.
Cursed Earth judges are essentially vigilantes. Although they are expected to uphold the same standards of behavior as street judges, they receive no supervision or support from the city. As such, some of them openly flout the code of practice that street judges must obey- drinking, smoking, or breaking celibacy for example. Also, due to the inevitable wear and tear of their equipment, coupled with their inability to obtain replacements, Cursed Earth judges who have been operating for years may have been forced to discard their uniform and possibly even their lawgiver, making them all but unrecognisable as judges. Cursed Earth judges also act as traveling magistrates, holding makeshift small-claims courts in the various settlements around the wasteland; for these, the arrival of a judge is a rare and exciting event, akin to a carnival, and therefore, along with legitimate grievances, some villagers file frivolous or ridiculous cases for entertainment value.
The Long Walk was introduced in 2000 AD #147, in the 1980 story "Judge Minty," written by John Wagner. In the 1995 feature film, the Long Walk is mandatory for all Judges upon retirement.

Notable exceptions

Two exceptions of judges returning to active duty after taking the Long Walk were Chief Judge McGruder and Judge Dredd himself:
After Justice Department's strength was reduced during Judgment Day, Necropolis, and the Second Robot War, an amnesty was offered to Judge Prager – who had survived over 20 years in the Undercity – was offered a street role even though he was infected with the lycanthropy infection, making him a werewolf. He declined, and returned to the Undercity.
In the 1995 film, Chief Judge Fargo steps down, using his last request to save Dredd from execution. He takes the Long Walk into the Cursed Earth and is later killed by Mean Machine Angel.

History

The Judge System was created by Eustace Fargo, special government prosecutor for street crime, between 2027 and 2031, to combat a rising tide of violent crime and to speed up the process of justice. While there was heavy protest in Congress over the idea of abandoning due process, the electorate was in favour and President Gurney was re-elected with a massive majority. The original uniforms heavily resembled those of normal American police officers, albeit with helmets and heavy body armour, and rode Lawranger motorcycles.
Following the Third World War of 2070 and discovering that President Booth had stolen the election, the Judges invoked "the oldest law of them all", overthrowing the Government of the United States and seizing power, with popular support, and the chief judge became the country's ruler. The Judicial model has subsequently spread throughout the globe becoming the most common form of government on Earth by the 22nd century.

Chief Judge

Office and powers

Until 2117 the chief judge was the ex officio chairman of the Council of Five, which in 2070 became the highest legislative body. He presided over the Council's meetings and could veto any decision with which he disagreed. He could also appoint and dismiss councillors at will. The Council usually included a deputy chief judge, who would automatically succeed to the highest office in the event of the death of the chief judge. If there was no deputy then the remaining members of the Council elected a new chief judge from among themselves.
Unfortunately, in Mega-City One's history there have been occasions when chief judges have abused their considerable power. When Chief Judge McGruder suspended the Council of Five in 2112 and ruled alone there was no mechanism for legally removing her from office when her mental health deteriorated and her decisions became increasingly erratic. She eventually resigned of her own accord in 2116, but by this time the undesirability of vesting too much authority in one individual had become apparent even to the hardline right-wing Judges of Mega-City One.
Therefore, in 2117 three significant changes were made to the system by her new successor, Chief Judge Volt. Firstly, he reformed the Council of Five by removing the chief judge from the Council. Since then the deputy chief judge has chaired most meetings of the Council of Five The appointment of a deputy chief judge must have the consent of the Council. This has given some measure of independence to the Council in its deliberations, and provided a constitutional method by which an incapable chief judge can be lawfully removed from office.
Secondly, the law was changed to make chief judges elected by the 400 Senior Judges of the city, rather than by the Council alone. This innovation had first been introduced ad hoc by McGruder herself in 2116, since there was neither a council nor a deputy chief judge during her term of office. It was unpopular with many judges at the time, but Volt made it a permanent rule. This second reform was deemed necessary because McGruder's own succession to the job in 2112 – without any vote being undertaken – had later been challenged as unconstitutional by her predecessor in that office, Judge Silver, resulting in a constitutional crisis. By making this second reform Volt ensured that future chief judges should not have their authority doubted, while at the same time his first reform made the chief judge accountable in the exercise of that authority.
Thirdly, the deputy chief judge is no longer guaranteed the automatic right of succession to the top job. Under the new system the deputy only becomes acting chief judge in the event of a vacancy in the highest office, and only becomes chief judge in his own right if subsequently elected. This procedure was first invoked when Volt himself died and Deputy Chief Judge Hershey became acting chief judge in 2121, winning the second election to chief judge in 2122. Even this rule only applies to a deputy chief judge who was appointed by an elected chief judge. A deputy chief judge appointed by an unelected chief judge does not become acting chief judge; instead there must be an election.

Removal from office

Until 2117 the only way in which a chief judge could lawfully be removed from office against his will was by a vote of the Council of Five. This never happened, and it became impossible when Chief Judge McGruder suspended the Council.
Since the constitutional reforms, it has also been possible for a candidate to run against a serving chief judge if one third of the city's senior judges sign a petition calling for a recall election. By 2131 the number of senior judges had trebled to around 1,200. In that year, senior judges began a successful campaign to vote reformer Chief Judge Hershey out of office, and replace her with hardliner Judge Francisco.
Francisco himself was removed from office in 2132 by his corrupt deputy, Judge Sinfield, who brainwashed him with an illegal mind-altering drug to make him resign so Sinfield could take his place. However Sinfield discovered that even the chief judge is not above the law, when his crime was discovered and he was arrested. The Council of Five reinstated Francisco.
Other chief judges have ended their term of office either by death or by resignation. Solomon, McGruder, and Francisco resigned ; Hershey resigned after serving a second term. Goodman, Cal and Griffin were assassinated. Volt committed suicide. Silver attempted suicide and was later executed for dereliction of duty in wartime. Fargo resigned and then attempted suicide, but this was covered up and the public were told he had been killed in the line of duty.

Mental state of Judges

The Judges world wide are shown to have a large superiority complex. This is mainly due to their training making them both physically and often mentally stronger than the average citizens they police. In the academy they are frequently told that they have been given the greatest honour the city can bestow and so they are the elite and have the power of life and death should they want to use it. With this stress is high and though dwarfed by street violence death by suicide is common. Most common reasons are demotion, perceived loss of honour, high stress of the job and forced retirement or desk duty. Three chief judges have attempted suicide, and many other notable judges have died that way.

Foreign variations

Every Mega-City seen is policed and run by a Judge system, which more or less resembles that of Mega-City One. Variations exist on the uniforms and overall system of government:
Places that lack a Judge force include the Mediterranean Free State, Mongolian Exclusion Zone, Canadia, and the Web. In some cases, this is a deliberate choice; in others, such as the Web, it is because they cannot afford it.
The foreign Judge stories and spin-off strips have been criticised for relying too much on foreign stereotypes and clichés – Egypt's Judges are based on Ancient Egyptians, the South American Judges are corrupt and incompetent and speak in exaggerated accents, Japanese Judges are samurai figures, etc. Dredd writer Gordon Rennie once wrote a list of foreign stereotypes used in 2000 AD and said "follow them closely, and you're probably in with a chance of pitching a Foreign Judge story to the Megazine circa 1993".

Dark Judges

The Dark Judges are undead creatures from an alternative reality, who argue that because all crime is committed by the living, life is a crime and the punishment is death. Their leader, Judge Death, is Judge Dredd's arch-enemy.
Before its extermination, Deadworld was ruled by a murderous and corrupt Judge force; their uniforms were a grey, black, and dark-red variation of Mega-City One's, with pterodactyls in place of eagles as decoration. There does not appear to have been an Atomic War in this world, as the cities shown resembled run-down 20th Century cities rather than the Mega-Cities. The Dark Judges took control of this Judge force and used it to assist them in their global genocide before disposing of it.

Judges

Chief judges

  1. Judge Fargo
  2. Judge Solomon
  3. Judge Goodman
  4. Judge Cal
  5. Judge Griffin
  6. Judge McGruder
  7. Judge Silver
  8. Judge McGruder
  9. Judge Volt
  10. Judge Hershey
  11. Judge Francisco
  12. Judge Sinfield
  13. Judge Francisco
  14. Judge Hershey
  15. Judge Logan

    Other notable judges