judgesonmerit.org

Voices Of Merit is an occasional series featuring insights from places where Merit Selection is already at work.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, Superior Court judges have been chosen by Merit Selection since 1974, after a voter-ratified constitutional change. The court publishes a brochure with the straightforward title Merit Selection Of Judges. It explains how the switch to Merit Selection has helped to create a court of skilled, diverse and fair-minded judges, “free from political debts that supporters may expect to be paid.” These are exactly the goals we have in mind for Pennsylvania’s appellate courts.