judgesonmerit.org

The Herald-Dispatch recently editorialized about West Virginia’s judicial election system and the problems inherent in electing judges.  The editorial specifically cited the issue of fundraising and campaign contributions:

The number one issue the five members of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals must deal with is the integrity of the court. That integrity has been battered in recent years. The amount of money spent on Supreme Court races poses perhaps the greatest threat to the high court’s integrity.

The editorial noted that even the three candidates running for the Supreme Court vacancy believe there are problems with the current electoral process.  Without identifying a favored solution, the editorial argues that the current system is broken and change should be considered:

Even people who like the present system must admit that the ever-increasing amount of money being spent on judicial elections is a problem. Money allows an unknown candidate to become known and have a fighting chance in an election, but too much money raises the perception that campaign donations could influence a justice’s decisions, particularly when that justice plans to run for re-election. . . . After the election, a fresh look is needed at what can be done to improve the way justices are selected and in the process improve the court’s integrity.

We hope West Virginians will get a chance to weigh in on whether the current system is working for them and whether they want to find a better way to select judges.

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