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	<title>judgesonmerit.org</title>
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	<description>Making the move to merit selection for all appellate judges in Pennsylvania</description>
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		<title>Merit Selection Advocated in Alabama</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The chief U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of Alabama will retire in October of this year but we are happy to see the use of a Merit Selection Panel to fill his position. Last week an order was issued by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn appointing 13 people to the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/02/08/merit-selection-advocated-in-alabama/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Oregon State Supreme Court Chief Justice Fears Future “Arms Race” in State Judicial Elections</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Oregon State Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul De Muniz will soon be leaving the bench.  In a recent interview, he discussed the many difficulties he has experienced while administering his state&#8217;s judicial system.  While most of his recollections focused on keeping the courts running during the economic downturn and updating the judiciary&#8217;s aging information technology [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/02/07/oregon-state-supreme-court-chief-justice-fears-future-%e2%80%9carms-race%e2%80%9d-in-state-judicial-elections/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Philadelphia Daily News Endorses Merit Selection</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A Daily News editorial strongly endorsed Merit Selection of Pennsylvania&#8217;s judges.  The paper argued that no litigant can be confident in the fairness and impartiality of the courts when our system of selecting judges requires massive fundraising efforts during judicial campaigns.  Much of this money comes from attorneys, law firms, interested parties likely to appear [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/02/01/philadelphia-daily-news-endorses-merit-selection/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Alabamans Question Hyper-Partisan Judicial Elections</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Eufaula Tribune has written an editorial decrying the current state of Alabama&#8217;s judicial politics.  The paper reported that it received a note from Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Chuck Malone stating that “For the first time, we have a completely Republican Supreme Court and I am honored to be able to serve the people [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/01/31/alabamans-question-hyper-partisan-judicial-elections/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Trying to Solve the Money Problem</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We know that the public is increasingly concerned about the influence campaign contributions to judicial candidates may have in the courtroom.  Yet, many states, including Pennsylvania, continue to elect judges in expensive elections that essentially require judicial campaigns to seek funds from lawyers, law firms, businesses, unions and other special interest groups with frequent litigation [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/01/31/trying-to-solve-the-money-problem/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Judges Should Let Opinions Speak for Them</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that controversy is brewing about Supreme Court Justice Max Baer&#8217;s comments about the Supreme Court&#8217;s forthcoming opinion in the redistricting case.  The Court issued an order in the case late Wednesday, but the opinion is not expected until some time next week.  Justice Baer made comments to the press about what [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/01/27/judges-should-let-opinions-speak-for-them/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Legal Intelligencer Calls for Merit Selection</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Legal Intelligencer (subscription required) joined Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts by endorsing Merit Selection of Pennsylvania&#8217;s appellate judges.  The endorsement followed in the wake of the grand jury investigation of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin for allegedly using state employees to work on her political campaign for the Supreme Court.  The Intelligencer argued [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/01/25/legal-intelligencer-calls-for-merit-selection/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Alabama and North Carolina Activists Move for Merit Selection</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Both North Carolina and Alabama are looking to Merit Selection as a means of ensuring that judges are selected based on qualifications, not money or partisanship. North Carolina pioneered publicly-funded judicial elections but fears for the future of that system after the US Supreme Court struck down Arizona&#8217;s similar “matching funds” public financing scheme.  The [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/01/20/alabama-and-north-carolina-activists-move-for-merit-selection/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Chicago Judges for Sale</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Chicago Journal outlined the process for judicial selection in Cook County, Illinois as follows: “The Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Cook County buys judges with the promise of votes, naming them to the party’s official slate in exchange for implicit support.” Being named to the slate is key in winning any judicial [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/01/20/chicago-judges-for-sale/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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		<title>Philadelphia Inquirer Calls for Merit Selection</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In an editorial today, the Philadelphia Inquirer urges the legislature to act on pending Merit Selection legislation.  Although the paper has supported Merit Selection for a long time, the impetus for the call today was the pending investigation of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin for improper use of her judicial staff for her [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.judgesonmerit.org/2012/01/18/philadelphia-inquirer-calls-for-merit-selection/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
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