Maryland Black Caucus Blocks “Merit” Selection
March 30, 2010
Doug Gansler, call your office. In a blow to the Maryland AG, the state’s legislative black caucus has blocked Gansler’s proposal to scrap democratic judicial elections of circuit court judges in favor of so-called “merit selection.” (Read my previous post on the proposal here.)
The Baltimore Sun reports that the proposal is “languishing in key committees” and that ”the Legislative Black Caucus’ strong opposition has doomed Gansler’s bill.”
Apparently the black caucus didn’t buy Gansler’s argument that “merit” selection is necessary because minority judges are often thrown off courts for reasons of “outright bias” in “predominantly white counties.”
Perhaps these legislators had heard of the problems “merit” selection has caused in Florida, where Governor Crist frequently complained that the state “merit” board failed to submit qualified minority candidates. The problem grew so bad in Florida that the state’s NAACP filed an amicus brief with the state Supreme Court charging that “the specter of racial discrimination has been raised” by the commission’s actions.
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: Judicial Elections, Maryland
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[...] in Maryland one month ago, the Legislative Black Caucus blocked efforts there to institute “merit” selection for circuit court [...]