No “Merit” for Texas
June 1, 2010
The Houston Chronicle has an editorial advocating an end to democratic judicial elections in Texas. Echoing former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Chronicle calls for establishing a “nonpartisan commission” that would nominate acceptable candidates, followed by retention elections to decide whether judges should stay on the bench.
The idea that the “merit” selection panels can be “nonpartisan” is a pleasant fiction that is clearly and easily refuted by the experience in other states. In Tennessee, lawmakers nearly let the entire “merit” selection system expire because it had become so deeply partisan. In Missouri, a petition is working its way onto the November ballot that would bring back democratic elections, following rising public frustration with a “merit” selection system that has been completely hijacked by the state’s powerful trial lawyers lobby. In Florida, the state NAACP actually filed an amicus brief with the state Supreme Court charging that “the specter of racial discrimination has been raised” by the “merit” commission’s actions.
The Chronicle doesn’t say how Texas will avoid similar pitfalls – probably because it can’t. Exactly what immaculate conception is going to give rise to a truly “nonpartisan” commission? Any commissioners appointed by the governor or legislators can’t be considered “nonpartisan” if that word has any meaning. Any commissioners selected by legal special interest groups – the state bar association, the trial lawyers association – will bring their own biases to the job.
Every leading public servant in America is inherently political. That’s what it means to live in a democracy. The key is to make public servants – including judges – accountable to the people. Democratic judicial elections ensure this accountability by giving citizens the power to remove public servants they deem should be replaced. “Merit” selection destroys it by making judges accountable to no one.
Posted by Dan Pero in the categories: Judicial Elections, O'Connor Judicial Selection Initiative, Texas
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