States Debate Judicial Elections Versus Appointed Bench
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Source: Thomson Reutuers
Date: September 26, 2011
Reuters reports that “Several states that appoint judges are considering a switch to an elected bench, despite growing criticism from judges about the influence of money in judicial elections. One of the most active is Tennessee, where conservative legislators believe that appointed judges are out of touch with the electorate and unaccountable to voters.” While legislators seek to put an end to Tennessee’s appointment-and-retention system, editorials across the country aired their support for merit selection. An editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer claims that if Pennsylvania adopts a judicial merit selection system, “[c]itizens, as a result, would have a greater assurance that justice was not being auctioned to the highest bidder.” Accordingly, the editorial endorsed a new, bipartisan proposal for merit-based selection of judges in Pennsylvania. And an editorial in the Oshkosh Northwestern suggested that switching to a merit selection system would be one way to repair the reputation of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Claiming that the current system of selecting state court judges through contested elections ensures that “political partisanship becomes a permanent blight on the high court,” the editorial urges the state legislature to investigate a possible switch to merit selection. Meanwhile, Missouri Bar President John S. Johnston wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal in defense of the state’s merit selection plan. According to Johnston, a previous Journal editorial opposing merit selection missed the mark. Johnston notes that merit selection systems attract opposition because while “[m]erit selection works to remove politics from the selection of judges. People with money and power who wish to make judges a second legislative branch, subject to their influence, do not like being told ‘no.’”
See also: Editorial: Supreme Court Must Find Will to Change, The Northwestern, September 22, 2011; Melanie G. Ramey,How to Improve Functioning of State’s High Court, Madison.Com, September 22, 2011; Missourians Like The Missouri Plan for Picking Judges, The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2011; Electing Judges Undermines Trust in the Judiciary, The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 17, 2011; Missouri Compromised, The Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2011.