[DoughtyOne]

I also see a problem with these judges being union members.

[ijcr]

Most people assume that ALJ's are Court Judges, they are not. There are approx. 1200 ALJ's in the Federal system, in 29 Departments. Immigration,Workers Comp,Customs,OHSHA, Social Security etc. They are employees ie, they submit a resume, sit an exam and compete in interviews.

They are hired as Federal employees GS-15 and above.They are subject to Federal Regulations in hiring and firing and like all Federal employees are protected by the Merit Systems Protection Board.

However,as employees they are entitled to join a Trades Union.There are only 220 ALJ's in the Immigration system with a vast backlog of cases.

The vast majority of ALJ's are gunshy trial lawyers.