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	<title>judgesonmerit.org</title>
	<link>http://judgesonmerit.org</link>
	<description>Making the move to merit selection for all appellate judges in Pennsylvania</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:02:14 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Justice Ginsburg Would Abolish Judicial Elections</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Washington Post reports today that United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg believes states should be prohibited from electing their state judges. Ginsburg expressed particular concern over the fundraising and specific campaign promises inherent in judicial elections. During a question-and-answer session at the National Association Meeting for Women Judges held in Washington D.C. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/03/12/justice-ginsburg-would-abolish-judicial-elections/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Financial Ties Between Judges and Litigants: How Judicial Elections Support an Inherent Contradiction</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A new study by the American Judicature Society (AJS) examines the frequency by which contributors to the campaigns of Pennsylvania Supreme Court candidates later appear before that subsequently elected justice in court.
Earlier this week at PMC we issued a press release detailing the findings of the study. The study’s results have already caused the press [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/03/12/financial-ties-between-judges-and-litigants-how-judicial-elections-support-an-inherent-contradiction/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>New Study: Campaign Contributors Often Appear Before the PA Supreme Court Justices Whose Campaigns They Helped Fund</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts today announced that a new study by the American Judicature Society confirms Pennsylvanians’ concerns about the problematic role of money in  judicial elections. AJS reports that in 2008 and 2009, more than two-thirds of  the civil cases decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court included a litigant,  lawyer or [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/03/09/new-study-campaign-contributors-often-appear-before-the-pa-supreme-court-justices-whose-campaigns-they-helped-fund/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>America’s Longest Serving Chief Justice Speaks Out for Merit</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After more than twenty years on the bench, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer will step down this year. Currently the longest serving chief justice in the United States, Moyer’s final order of business will be to attempt to change the way Ohioans select their state judges. Moyer has joined forces with both the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/03/08/america%e2%80%99s-longest-serving-chief-justice-speaks-out-for-merit/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Why Perception Matters</title>
		<description><![CDATA[JudgesOnMerit and other like-minded groups and coalitions across the country are working hard to spread the message that judges, particularly at the appellate level, should not be elected. Instead, we argue, for each vacancy, judicial candidates should be screened by a non-partisan citizen panel representing the diverse spectrum of interests in the community, which will [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/03/05/why-perception-matters/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Wise Words on Merit from the Hawkeye State</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A Des Moines editorial expressed profound relief that a piece of legislation aimed to change the way judges are selected for the state Supreme Court—from their current method of merit selection—was ultimately tabled:
The proposed legislation came in response to Iowa’s recent Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage. Some in opposition to the ruling sought to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/03/02/wise-words-on-merit-from-the-hawkeye-state/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Judicial Selection: What Would Our Founders Do?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This month’s ABA Journal makes a strong historical argument for merit selection, noting that from the time of our nation’s conception the founding fathers contemplated the acute importance of having a fair and impartial judiciary. To this end the founders constructed the Constitution to provide for a separation of powers between the branches of government [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/03/01/judicial-selection-what-would-our-founders-do/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>JSPAN Endorses Merit Selection Plan for Pennsylvania Appellate Judges</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Jewish Social Policy Action Network (JSPAN) announced yesterday that it is officially endorsing a change to the Pennsylvania Constitution that would provide for merit selection of appellate judges in the commonwealth. The full text of the resolution is below:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JEWISH SOCIAL POLICY ACTION NETWORK
RESOLUTION ON MERIT SELECTION OF JUDGES
Pennsylvania is one of a few states that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/02/25/jspan-endorses-merit-selection-plan-for-pennsylvania-appellate-judges/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Electing Judges is &#8220;Fishy&#8221;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dan Hull over at What  About Paris offers some interesting thoughts on why states should give up on  electing judges and make the switch to Merit Selection. The bottom  line:
Judges  should not have &#8220;constituents,&#8221; i.e. law firms, and their clients, who make  campaign contributions. Right now, in most American states, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/02/24/electing-judges-is-fishy/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Bill Moyers Journal spotlights Judicial Elections, Pennsylvania</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The problems with Pennsylvania’s judicial elections took a national spotlight this week. The Friday night primetime PBS news show “Bill Moyers Journal” was devoted this past week to the question we’ve been asking for a long time:
How would you feel if you were in court and knew that the opposing lawyer [or party] had contributed [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://judgesonmerit.org/2010/02/22/bill-moyers-journal-spotlights-judicial-elections-pennsylvania/#utm_source=feed&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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