judgesonmerit.org

“We put cash in the courtrooms and it’s just wrong.” This is how former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor opened last week’s conference at Fordham Law School studying the judiciary and the courts.

Justice O’Connor has neatly summed up the problem with using partisan elections to select appellate judges. This system requires would-be judges to raise money from lawyers, law firms and other organizations that are likely to appear before them in the future. Who else would be interested enough to fund these increasingly expensive campaigns?

Of course, almost every judge and every contributor says that campaign contributions have no influence in the courtroom. But studies show that the public (and even some judges) believes the opposite to be true. This perception leads to a lack of public confidence in the judiciary and the courts. If the public doesn’t believe that our courts are fair and impartial, the courts can’t effectively serve the public.

Let’s get the cash out of the courtrooms. It’s time for Merit Selection.