judgesonmerit.org

When asked, people say that they place a high value on qualified, fair and impartial judges.  One of the most compelling reasons to adopt  merit selection is that it is designed to ensure that the judges who preside over our courts maintain the highest degree of integrity and ethical behavior. New data from American Judicature Society support this.

The AJS study found that merit selected judges are disciplined less than justices who came to the bench through contested elections: Only 28.1 percent of the judges who were disciplined were merit selected, while the remaining 79.1 percent of disciplined judges were elected.

In addition, the study found that merit-selected judges are more likely to receive less severe sentences when they are disciplined than elected justices: While 58.5 percent of all disciplined judges received the least severe disciplinary action, 77.1 percent of merit-selected judges receive the least severe sanction.

Ultimately, the study concluded:

It is no doubt the case that judicial merit selection systems… are more effective than others in screening applicants and identifying the most qualified [judicial] candidates. …These findings suggest that merit selection systems may produce fewer unfit judges than judicial elections.

The study examined a 15-year period in states in which judges are elected but where vacancies between elections are filled through a merit selection process.

Judicial quality was indicated by whether the justices complied with ethical standards of conduct. State codes of judicial conduct, which are enforced through judicial discipline systems, set rules regarding integrity and independence of courts, among other things. Although all 50 states have some form of judicial conduct system, the make-up of each and the grounds for which a judge may be called before it differ. In Pennsylvania, the system is divided into two entities: the Judicial Conduct Board and the Court of Judicial Discipline.

Click here to read about Pennsylvania’s judicial discipline system.

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