judgesonmerit.org

A column in the Minnesota Daily offers an assessment of the recent elections and challenges readers to think about whether changing from electing judges to a Merit Selection system makes sense. The author notes that despite the large number of ballots cast in Minnesota, many people did not vote in the judicial elections: “Essentially, more than three quarters of a million people went out to vote and didn’t make a decision on the judges who will be interpreting this state’s laws for the next six years.”

The author goes on to explain the proposal for Merit Selection and the reasons proponents believe reform is necessary.  He discusses the issues of campaign  money, independence and nasty campaign tactics.  He also cites those who favor maintaining the judicial election system.

The column closes with a question for the reader:

So what about you? Were you among the 800-odd thousand who voted last week and chose to forego your vote on judicial candidates? Are we better off just leaving this judge stuff to the experts in an attempt to keep money and politics from ruining the judiciary? Or is it more important that each person have a potential voice in the selection of our judges?

We disagree with parts of the premise of this question: we believe citizens will continue to be involved in a Merit Selection system, including having a citizen-based commission, not a panel of “experts,” to screen candidate.  But, we too, would like to know what the public thinks about how we select our appellate judges.  We hope that Pennsylvanians will get a chance to weigh in on this issue in the near future.