Jun 11 2010
Diverse coalition helps PMC roll out merit poll
With the help of Governor Ed Rendell, three former governors and an array of people representing a broad diversity of interests, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts and PMCAction announced the results of a poll Wednesday that shows 93 percent of Pennsylvanians want to vote on the issue of merit selection.
The poll, conducted for PMC, PMCAction, Justice at Stake, Committee for Economic Development and the American Judicature Society, also reveals that 62 percent of Pennsylvanians favor merit selection for appellate judges and that 76 percent believe that campaign contributions influence judicial decision-making.
“It’s clear the public wants – and we demand – a better way of selecting our appellate court judges,” said Representative Matt Smith, who introduced legislation calling for a referendum on the issue. “It goes across party boundaries and regions in the state.”
There is good reason for the wide bipartisan support – in the last race for the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania, the two candidates spent $4.7 million.
In addition, many of the major campaign donators later appear before the judges in court.
Former governor Tom Ridge, who joined the event via phone, stressed the importance of judges who are able to focus on the law, not campaign fundraising and the often-volatile public opinion:
Judges have to be free from any real or perceived influence of the political process and be an independent arbiter to ensure that the Constitution and federal law and state law and regulations are applied properly. We can’t wait. The stakes are too high.
The current system forces potential jurists to engage in negative campaigning and fundraising, and the results of races can be attributed to factors unrelated to qualifications to serve as a judge such as ballot position and geography.
Former governor Dick Thornburgh, who like Ridge phoned in to the press conference, likened the current method of electing judges to a “beauty contest.” Merit selection, he said “gets us away from the notion that this is just one more political office to be run for, and paid for.”
In addition, voters often lack adequate information about the judicial candidates when they go to the ballot box.
Senator Jane Earll, who introduced a bill calling for merit selection, highlighted that even the most well-intentioned voters do not always have enough information to base an informed vote.
“I’m a legislator and a lawyer, and I have a hard time myself distinguishing between the candidates.” Because of this she said, “We end up electing people with no relation to their qualifications.”
Governor Rendell framed the issue in simple terms:
“It’s a god awful system, and it ought to be changed.”
Read some of the news coverage of the event below.
Entries RSS