Beyond the Network: Political reform news from around the country

Around the country the subject of Fair & Impartial Courts keeps coming up, states are looking at the effectiveness of selecting judges based on a merit system instead of elections. Many states considering or defending merit-selected judges are finding strong support from scholars and the public alike.

Alabama Supreme Court election spending too high
An editorial in The Birmingham News favors a merit selection system for Alabama Supreme Court justices and the elimination of multi-million dollar judicial campaigns.

According to Gavel Grab, a news article in the same newspaper, relying on Justice at Stake data, pointed out Alabama’s distinction earlier in the week.

You can learn more about merit selection from Justice at Stake’s issues page on the topic.

Nevada merit system yields ‘fewer turkeys, fewer crooks’
There’s little way to know much about contenders in some of the open seats, Jane Ann Morrison confides in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. So she asked an attorney friend, and he didn’t know about them, but offered advice praising a potential merit system.

Arkansas Justice: Routes to judicial election reform
Justice Robert L. Brown listed some of the reforms in a recent letter to the New York Times, responding to an opinion column by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (see Gavel Grab’s “O’Connor: ‘Take Justice off the Ballot’”).

An excerpt of Justice Brown’s letter defending judicial elections can be found at the Arkansas Times.

Pennsylvania poll shows strong support for merit selection
A solid majority of Pennsylvanians–62 percent–favors replacing contested elections for appellate judges with merit selection, according to a poll conducted for Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a partner of the Justice at Stake Campaign.

In discussing their views, 73 percent told pollsters they do not think the most qualified candidates currently win elections for the bench, and 76 percent believe campaign contributions influence judges’ decisions, according to a PMC press release.

Editorials
Let voters decide judicial selection question - The Daily Times
Better way to pick judges - The Times Tribune

Who should pick judges? Indiana’s system works
An Indianapolis Star columnist wrote that in order to keep judges neutral, the state should stick with its version of the merit system and stay clear of raising money.

Iowa bar leader strongly defends merit system
According to Gavel Grab, Jane V. Lorentzen defends Iowa’s merit selection method for choosing judges in a Des Moines Register column.

Study finds judges selected on merit receive less discipline
A new study by the American Judicature Society found judges selected on a merit-based system are disciplined less often than elected judges, and merit-based justices that are disciplined receive a more lenient punishment.

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