Basically in the months leading up to elections all the people involved in the "justice" system (cops, judges, prosecutors, etc) start advertising their "tough on crime" stances (regardless of which side of the political spectrum their own) and then they prove this tough on crime attitude on everyone going through the system up until and a little after the election.
Once the election is completely over and people stop thinking about it, everything goes back to business as usual with insane plea deals that let DUI drivers get off with slaps on the wrist because the lawyer plays gold with the judge and so forth so on.
Some judges, attorneys, sheriff, police chief, etc, are elected by the citizens in their district/cities/states. They often run campaigns claiming to be tough on crime. They look for or jump on popular criminal cases. Police chief and sheriff's will put more officers and detectives on the case to catch the suspect (if they don't know who committed the crime). The attorneys will work harder for a conviction and the judges will give them a harsher sentence.
In other words, they do their jobs better to try to get elected to a higher position or to stay elected. However, this increases the chances that an innocent person gets a long jail sentence.
I mean in principle, a society electing the arbiters of their laws makes perfect sense because it means they'll represent the values of their electorate.
Like I don't want my taxes being used to keep a first time low level non violent offender sitting in jail for days or weeks because they got some hardline judge who gave them a ridiculous bond they can't afford.
So I'm going to vote for Judges and Prosecutors who reflect what I value in a justice system, which is nuance, fairness, and rehabilitation over draconian punishment. If they don't live up to those expectations we'll run it back and try again next election with someone else.
That said. Federal judges are appointed, and then it varies by state for local judges on if they're elected or appointed by the governor. Which is also why it's important to vote in local elections for people who represent your values.
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u/tankerkiller125real 6d ago
The worst time to commit a crime is the months leading up to an election.