Ambition for public office has been explored extensively in the electoral context (particularly legislative); however, we know far less about what motivates the decision to apply for judicial vacancies in merit systems. In addition, how does merit selection affect the applicant pools for judicial vacancies? 8. class="algoSlug_icon" data-priority="2">Web. Finally, he examines how the institutional design of merit selection affects committee capture, which could negatively affect merit selection performance. The biggest pro of having a merit-based system of appointment is simple: you get the best and most qualified judges sitting on the bench. Nor have states that use merit selection generally had success in ensuring a diverse bench, raising questions about their processes for recruiting and vetting judicial candidates.26. What solutions would you impose? A nominating committee comprised of both lawyers and nonlawyers presents the governor with a list of nominees, from which the governor selects an appointee. Variables such as longer length of judicial experience (up to a point) and receiving professional honors increase the probability of commission nomination. Any alternative system of choosing judges will have its own advantages and disadvantages, and may advance or impede important values related to the selection of judgesincluding judicial independence, judicial accountability and democratic legitimacy, judicial quality, public confidence in the courts, and diversity on the bench.27 There are important empirical questions about the likely impact of different systems on these values. With executive and legislative races (both federally and in the states) tending to consume the lions share of the attention during election years, few voters can invest the time, energy, or resources to fully familiarize themselves with the entire roster of judicial candidates up for election.20 Critics also point to the fact that the realities of campaigning make it nearly impossible to prevent partisan politics (and politics more broadly) from playing a role in judicial elections. 265, 27475 (2008). 579, 640 (2005) (noting Professor Raoul Berger traced the phrase hold their Offices during good Behaviour to the [British] Act of Settlement of 1701 (which protected the independence of English judges by granting them tenure as long as they conduct[ed] themselves well, and provided for termination only through a formal request by the Crown of the two Houses of Parliament) and to earlier English traditions) (citing Raoul Berger, Impeachment of Judges and Good Behavior Tenure, 79 Yale L.J. Thus, the question is not only how to best insulate judges from political forces, but also which political forcesincluding the political branches, special interests, political parties, and majority rulepose the gravest threat to judicial independence. Specifically, attorneys who are ideologically congruent with the appointing governor are more likely to apply for vacant judgeships (p. 87). Even the best judges disagree with one another: look at the Supreme Court of the United States, which is filled with constitutional scholars from Ivy League law schools who have decades of experience as lawyers and judges, splitting 4-4-1 in the pivotal Obamacare case, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sibelius. PROS, CONS ON . The pros are numerous, but what they boil down to is that you want your judges to make their decisions based on the law, not based on what public opinion says or what people who can contribute lots of money to campaigns think. Republicans argued that the move was necessary to increase the publics representation on the commission through gubernatorial selection. . Democrats described the move as a power grab. The impact of this change is yet to be seen; however, Goelzhausers discussion in Judicial Merit Selection: Institutional Design and Performance for State Courts provides a much-needed theoretical and empirical lens through which to examine the motivations and potential consequences of such institutional adjustments. 25. A : Judicial candidates are prohibited from making predictions and promises about legal issues that might come before their courts. Doing so, proponents claim, ultimately allows for the most qualified candidates to join the judiciary. Only three statesMassachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Islandhave life tenure (with or without a mandatory retirement age) for judges. Nor has any other judicial selection reform gained traction. 22. Unlike a traditional nonpartisan election, the partisan primary allows for a more curated list of judicial candidates. (Mar. Pros Cons Judges who are appointed are more likely to be highly qualified . This includes 22 states that use elections for a judges initial term on the bench, and 38 states that use elections for subsequent terms on the bench. Downloada printablePDF of this article (log in for access). See Brennan Ctr. To carry out their duties as a judge it is vital that they are impartial, and the party political system and method of voting would guarantee that they would lack that necessary impartiality that is needed. The answer to the question of whether merit selection works is understandably complex, and Goelzhauser concludes by assessing his findings in light of the normative goals and expectations of merit selection. In just the past few years, state supreme courts, which are the final word on questions of state law, have struck down tort reform legislation in Arkansas, ordered Kansass state legislature to equalize funding for public schools, and declared Connecticuts death penalty law unconstitutional. Instead, these primary elections typically narrow the field to two candidates for the general election. They are unlikely to recognize the differences in the makeup of an effective judge and an ineffective one and are nearly as likely to vote for bad judges as they are to vote for good ones. 1. Pros and Cons of Various Judicial Selection Methods . Retention systems often include a merit based appointment system for selecting judges, thus eliminating the politics and uncertainty of judicial selection via contested election. Nonpartisan elections were adopted in an attempt to help restore the integrity of the courts while helping break party strangleholds, with Cook County, Illinois, becoming the first to implement the method in 1873.16 As of today, 13 states still rely on contested nonpartisan elections (Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) to elect their supreme court justices.17. As the purpose of a judicial system is impartial interpretation of the law, merit is everything. Ciara Torres-Spelliscy et al., Brennan Ctr. While electing judges is not a flawless system, it is better than alternatives. for Justice Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map, http://judicialselectionmap.brennancenter.org/?court=Supreme (last visited Sept. 2, 2016). DOWNERS GROVE I agree that something should be done to improve the judicial selection . The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.); see also Judith Resnik, Judicial Selection and Democratic Theory: Demand, Supply, and Life Tenure, 26 Cardozo L. Rev. See Richard Watson & Rondal Downing, The Politics of the Bench and the Bar: Judicial Selection Under the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan (John Wiley & Sons., Inc. 1969). Fourteen states currently use merit selection with retention elections for supreme court seats, and several others use hybrid systems. 1. _ Gerrie Bishop is the judicial staff attorney for the 5th Judicial Circuit in Brooksville. This, supporters claim, provides a degree of thoughtfulness on the part of the voters that can produce a truly independent bench equipped to address the communitys needs. Additionally, due to the costs involved, elections discourage many well-qualified attorneys from seeking judicial office, and the merit selection process generally results in a higher number of appointments of minority and female candidates. Goelzhauser finds consistent evidence of the influence of partisanship at the gubernatorial appointment stage, with Democrats being systematically disadvantaged in regards to appointment probability (p. 70). Gerald C. Wright, Charles Adrian and the Study of Nonpartisan Elections, 61 Pol. 13 (2008). Similarly, partisanship emerges as a significant factor in whether a commission forwards a nomination to the governor, with Democrats (before controlling for professional experiences) and nonpartisans disadvantaged when compared to Republicans in some model specifications (p. 67). History has recorded cases in which certain judges of the Supreme Court have, in their single presence or in their single absence, made the difference in a ruling. Am. Retention elections, where a sitting judge is unopposed and faces an up-or-down vote, are the most common reselection method (used in 19 states), suggesting the importance of understanding how retention elections operate and the incentives they create.28. What are five reasons to support the death penalty? Additionally, judges are rarely removed when they stand for retention, and frequently don't have opposition in elections, so merit selection often results in what amounts to life tenure for judges. Surprisingly, relatively little attention has been paid to reselection as such, and how these unique pressures might be mitigated, regardless of how a judge initially made it onto the bench. III, 1 (The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. First adopted by Mississippi in 1832, contested partisan elections for selecting judges became so widespread that the concept was included in the constitution of every state admitted into the Union between the years 1846 and 1912.11 While the popularity of contested partisan judicial elections has waned in the past century, 20 states still use contested partisan elections to select at least some of their trial court judges and seven (Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas) select their appellate judges and supreme court justices through contested partisan elections as well.12. Merit selection arguably the most effective way to appoint a judge but it also has its pros and cons but the ultimate question is whether or not the retention election is a success or failure in the judicial system. As Goelzhauser notes throughout the book, transparency gaps complicate assessment of merit selection performance from a multi-state perspective; however, Nebraskas merit selection system is representative of merit systems in a number of states, so the analyses and findings offer broader insights useful beyond Nebraska state lines. 16. Jed Handelsman Shugerman, The Peoples Courts 7 (2012). The Governor must select from the list. 1053 (2020). This once again calls into question the claim that merit selection helps to at least moderate the influence of partisanship in the judicial selection process (p. 87). I highly recommend Judicial Merit Selection: Institutional Design and Performance for State Courts, as this work will be of great interest to students and scholars of judicial politics, comparative institutionalists, legal scholars, transparency advocates, and state officials. 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