judgesonmerit.org

There is an insightful editorial in the Tennessean urging Tennessee to maintain its Merit Selection system. Buck Lewis, who’s seen the Tennessee Merit Selection system from the perspective of a nominating commission member and a disappointed judicial candidate, wants the people of Tennessee to know that the system works.

That’s right, Mr. Lewis first failed to be nominated by the commission. Then, a year later, when he was recommended to fill a vacancy, his panel was rejected by the Governor due to a lack of diversity. Yet he still is a champion of Merit Selection:

More than 30 years of experience with selecting and electing judges tells me that the Tennessee Plan is the best plan we have ever had to pick our judges.

Mr. Lewis counts among his reasons for supporting Merit Selection the nominating commission’s ability to screen out unqualified applicants; the commission’s thorough vetting of candidates in a way not possible in the electoral system; and the avoidance of expensive, contentious elections.

It’s hard to imagine turning back the clock to the days when political parties nominated slates of Supreme Court judges. Tennessee would be the only state ever to scrap merit selection and revert back to raw politics.

We hope Tennessee will heed his call, and that Pennsylvanians will also realize why Merit Selection is a better way to select appellate judges.