judgesonmerit.org

Are Wisconsin voters ready to choose Merit Selection over partisan elections of their judges? Deke Rivers, a blogger who writes about politics and life in Wisconsin, says that he used to think that electing judges was the way to go, but now he’s changed his mind:

While I have long felt that public election to the Supreme Court was superior to other methods of placing citizens on the bench, in light of the recent problems that show no signs of ending, I have started to alter my views. It is time to think about merit selection for the Supreme Court.

We agree. When special-interest groups spend millions of dollars supporting one candidate over another, the public’s perception of impartiality in the judiciary suffers.

Rivers continues:

We can no longer pretend there is not a credibility problem with the court. The electoral process is loaded with ways for special interests to almost insure that a candidate with an agenda is elected.

We appreciate seeing grass-roots support for Merit Selection from people in other states. And we look forward to hearing more from voters in Wisconsin and elsewhere about the impression they have of their courts after hotly contested partisan elections.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS