We need decent, honest and intelligent people, but no past or present member of the bar should ever be allowed to become an appellate judge. It's a conflict of interest.
Using that logic no accountant could ever be an auditor. Do you think just anyone can audit books, or does one need formal understanding of accounting principles?
Maybe scientific articles should no longer be subject to peer review. Let's mandate that nobody with a degree in natural science can vet a scientific article. That will eliminate the conflict of interest.
Also, no more engineers as building or highway inspectors. Let's use short-order cooks.
The anti-intellectualism on this thread is scary. I do not like political elites, but the idea that expert knowledge in a complex field like the law is unnecessary is beyond naive.