judgesonmerit.org

A panel will meet December 6 in Afton, Minnesota, to debate whether the state should change the way it selects judges, according to a post on the Minnesota Senate Distrcit 57 GOP’s website.

A Constitutional amendment bill has recently been submitted to Minnesota’s legislature that would replace Minnesota’s contested judicial elections with a system in which judges initially are appointed by the governor, and would then be subject to retention elections at the end of a term.  Under the bill’s provisions, a special commission would be established to help the public evaluate judges’ performance.

This proposed model differs from what we have been advocating that Pennsylvania adopt – the governor of Minnesota would have complete discretion in the initial appointment of a judge, rather than have to select a candidate from a short list compiled by a nominating commission. The commission’s work in Minnesota would apparently be only to educate the public about performance, and to guide them during retention elections.

However, the sentiment is generally the same: that popular election of judges may not end up serving the actual needs of the public, and that the people of a state should be given the opportunity to decide for themselves what system would provide the best, most qualified judges. Senate District 57 Republican Party Chair Kellie Eigenheer notes that “everyone wants a judiciary that is fair, objective and enforces the law. The disagreement is how best to get that result – having the people elect judges, as we do now, or having the governor appoint judges based specific merit-based criteria.”

Public debates are critical to helping the people of a state understand what is at stake, and educate them about the alternatives to their current selection systems. We’d like to see similar debates in Pennsylvania, and soon, the chance for the people of both states to vote on how best to choose their judges.

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