The main actors in the federal court system are the men and women who serve as judges and justices. Virtually anyone in America can become a District Court judge. There are no constitutional or statutory qualifications stipulated for serving on the District Court. There are no exams to pass, no minimum age requirement, no stipulation that judges be native-born citizens or legal residents, and no requirement that judges even have a law degree. However it is not as easy as one may think. District Court judges in the United States are an elite within an elite that go through a strenuous selec…
