judgesonmerit.org

In a front-page article about the Supreme Court case of Caperton v. Massey, USA Today presents sobering statistics about the public’s perception of the effect of campaign contributions in judicial elections:

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll this month found 89% of those surveyed believe the influence of campaign contributions on judges’ rulings is a problem, and 52% deem it a “major” problem. More than 90% of the 1,027 adults surveyed said judges should be removed from a case if it involves an individual or group that contributed to the judge’s election campaign.

Recusal — when a judge removes him or herself from a case — is the big question the United States Supreme Court must tackle.  But we think these survey results raise a bigger question: why are we choosing judges through expensive elections that require such contributions in the first place.  There is a better way: Merit Selection.

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