judgesonmerit.org

Over at the Commonwealth Foundation’s Policy Blog, Nathan Benefield asks why changing to nonpartisan elections isn’t enough of a reform to solve the problems inherent in judicial elections. The answer is two-fold. First, the problem isn’t just the involvement of political parties in the process. It’s the money and the whole need to act political, raise money, make campaign promises –ie, act like any other elected official when judges are different.

Second, in states that have gone the nonpartisan route, folks will tell you that almost everyone knows which party each candidate is affiliated with. There really is no such thing as a nonpartisan election. And, of course, with or without the party label, these candidates are still raising money from lawyers and entities likely to appear before them in the future.

So, moving to nonpartisan elections isn’t the solution to the problems with electing judges. Merit Selection is a better way to pick appellate court judges.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS