Agreed. For clarity, the barrier of entry I'm referring to is financial. Law school just costs too damned much to then go practice in the public sector and mak

Agreed. For clarity, the barrier of entry I'm referring to is financial. Law school just costs too damned much to then go practice in the public sector and make next to nothing. We want smart people to be judges, but we're eliminating potential candidates that opt out because some simple math finds the return on investment for law school isn't motivating in a permanent position in the public sector. The former judges I know became judges to bump their opportunity at partnership at big law firms. They just worked some years in the public and then flipped to private when the salary offers looked good. Same for AG office, etc.