judgesonmerit.org

An editorial in the Scranton Times-Tribune blasts judicial elections and the political money games they have become:

Judges are supposed to represent only the law. Yet in Pennsylvania judicial candidates seek the favor and, increasingly, the money of politically interested individuals and organizations.

It’s not quite clear how a nonpartisan judiciary is supposed to spring from a partisan process.

This is a critical question: how is the public — and how are judges themselves — supposed to believe that judges are different from other elected officials when they get into office the very same way — through hard-fought, expensive partisan elections?  It has become increasingly difficult for the public to believe that judges really are impartial arbiters who treat all comers equally.  And this loss of public confidence weakens our courts.

The Times-Tribune endorses a different way of selecting judges — a system that would combine appointments with retention elections — as the only way to maintain judicial independence.  Merit Selection emphasizes qualifications, skills and experience in selecting judges and gets judges out of the fundraising business.  It is time for change.

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