judgesonmerit.org

Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court changed one of the rules governing its judicial elections.  According to an Associated Press report on Ohio.com, judicial candidates may now make public their political party affiliations.  The rule change is part of a new Code of Judicial Conduct going into effect March 1, 2009.  There had been a ban in place on such direct advertising of party affiliation since 1995, although the rule had not been enforced since it was challenged in 2004.

Why make the change? “Ohio Supreme Court assistant administrator Rick Dove says the rule is being changed because candidates were finding ways around it. Plus, he says the court wanted to make the relationship between judicial candidates and political parties more transparent.”

This is yet another sign that judicial elections are becoming more like elections for other public offices, despite the unique role judges play in our government.  If judges really are different, shouldn’t we treat them differently from the get-go, including how they get to be judges?