judgesonmerit.org

The problems caused in West Virginia by one company’s contributions to judicial election campaigns continue to plague the state. Now, even though one of the Justices involved lost his reelection bid, there is an effort to have a case involving that contributor reexamined, with a focus on whether another Justice should have recused from the case. Theodore B. Olson, former solicitor general of the United States and private counsel to Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, will spearhead efforts to get the issue before the United States Supreme Court.

In a press release announcing his involvement with the case, Mr. Olson succinctly sums up the crisis of public confidence created by partisan judicial elections:

The improper appearance created by money in judicial elections is one of the most important issues facing our judicial system today. A line needs to be drawn somewhere to prevent a judge from hearing cases involving a person who has made massive campaign contributions to benefit the judge.

We think the best solution to the problem is to get appellate judges out of the fundraising business altogether. The way to do this is Merit Selection.

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