judgesonmerit.org

Friday’s Wisconsin State Journal editorial asks the question,

Shouldn’t a Supreme Court candidate’s legal skill and fairness be more important than ability to raise campaign money and win partisan support?

The answer seems clear. Yet, in the wake of the “Gableman affair,” in which the state Supreme Court deadlocked along party lines over a complaint accusing Justice Michael Gableman of lying about an opponent in a campaign ad, Wisconsinites are realizing that “legal skill and fairness” may be taking a back seat due to the state’s practice of electing its judges.

The increasingly partisan nature of Supreme Court elections is rapidly erasing the line that once insulated the judicial branch of government from the partisan politics of the legislative and executive branches.

The “Gableman affair” has been characterized as a tipping point.

From the campaign to the ethics case, politics shaped a process that should have been shaped by the law.

But there may be a silver lining. Many are now second-guessing the soundness of judicial elections. The Wisconsin State Journal, along with the Beloit Daily News and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has advocated for replacing this politically driven process with a system of merit selection. Merit Selection, in which candidates are evaluated based on their qualifications by a nonpartisan commission, would provide for greater transparency in the judicial selection process and ensure that the most fair and candidates reach the bench.

The editorial closes with an answer to its own question.

Wisconsin should restore public trust in the Supreme Court by shifting to merit selection of justices.

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