Thursday, December 17, 2009

Judicial Elections or Appointments? McCaffery Weighs In

Bill Mears wrote an article for the CNN website on the judicial elections / appointments controversy. Former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is clearly on the side of appointing judges. For additional opinions Mears talks with the Ohio Chief Justice and PA Supreme Court Judge Seamus McCaffery. Here is McCaffery's comment:
But as Pennsylvania's newest elected high court member, McCaffery said it was a treat visiting all of his state's 67 counties on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

"That's the beauty of having electoral process where we need to be responsive to the community," said the Philadelphia former cop-turned-judge. "And I think it's important that judges should be out there. It's just as important as other elected officials."


I disagree with McCaffery. Judges should be responsive to the law, not popular opinion.

For more info read "Former Justice O'Connor Leads Push to End Judicial Elections." For a more local perspective see Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts
at

2 comments:

  1. GaryFri Dec 18, 02:36:00 AM 2009

    Elections or appointments, actually in the politics, appointments are much more than elections.

    But what people can see is usually the elections, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AboveAvgJaneFri Dec 18, 07:26:00 AM 2009

    That's true. You have a good point. Appointments with a retention election is a compromise.

    ReplyDelete