judgesonmerit.org

The Harrisburg Patriot-News is urging Pennsylvania to choose Merit Selection. An editorial inspired by the Caperton decision and the recent introduction of legislation that would implement Merit Selection for the appellate courts argues:

The egregious West Virginia case is the kind of scenario that opponents of our current system of electing judges have warned against for years. When candidates are forced to raise so much money for a judge seat, it is difficult for them not to find themselves rendering decisions involving some of their contributors.

Studies show that much of the money raised for judges is contributed by lawyers and in Pennsylvania there are no restrictions on judges presiding over cases involving those who contribute to their campaigns.

This is a serious problem. If nothing else, it provides the basis for a public perception of bias. And the fact that those who want to sit impartially on our state’s highest courts are raising money through one of the two major political parties — after getting that party’s endorsement — is just wrong.

The editorial poses Merit Selection as the solution and goes on to describe the recently introduced legislation.  The editorial concludes that the Caperton case is “s a warning sign of what could happen here.”

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