The blog has been light on in-depth posts recently for a few reasons, including travel and research on future posts, including the quarterly FEC reports, which always takes forever and a day to compile. Some of the research has been on judicial candidates. The question of whether or not judges should be elected at all comes up in a lot of the reading I've been doing. Since most voters don't pay much attention to judicial races many of the campaign donors are lawyers. The same lawyers that will be presenting cases before whoever wins the judicial race. Is that a good idea?
Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts sponsors a website, www.judgesonmerit.org, to present the benefits of appointing as opposed to electing judges.
This is a topic that deserves a lot more discussion. After ploughing through a lot of reading on judicial candidates this evening, I'm currently leaning towards appointment with a vote on retention; of course, this includes the assumption of a robust and independent press that will keep an eye on judicial conduct.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A Quick Note on Judicial Elections
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3 comments:
Thanks Jane for writing about judicial elections and Merit Selection and alerting readers to our website www.pmconline.org. For reader who want more information about Merit Selection efforts in Pa. and elsewhere, check out our blog www.JudgesOnMerit.org.
The most recent Merit Selection proposals in Pa. have been limited to the three statewide appellate courts and operate as you suggest: a citizens based nominating commission screens candidates and recommends the most qualified to the Governor; the Governor nominates from this list; the Senate must confirm. After an initial four year term (and then every 10 years), the judge stands before the public in a retention election. This system focuses on qualifications -- including skill, experience and reputation for fairness and integrity; gets judges out of the fundraising business; and opens up the bench to qualified candidates -- men and women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds and professional experiences -- from across the Commonwealth.
This assumes that the Governor and State House/State Senate leaders don't have a partisan stand off over appointments. That has been known to happen.
Living in Luzerne County (home of the Juvie Brothers)I think merit selection would be an improvement. There is no way to predict future behavior but at least they would go through a background check
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