Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has an important column on statenewsshot.com documenting how Tennessee’s so-called “merit” selection scheme has rigged the state’s judicial selection process in favor of powerful special interest groups and moved the entire process behind closed doors, out of public view.

Currently special interests control the appointment process. Although I have eight […]

Tennessee’s Judicial Selection Commission yesterday submitted a list of three candidates it deems worthy to fill retiring Chief Justice William Barker’s seat on the state Supreme Court. How did the commissioners reach their decision? Did they weigh each applicant’s judicial temperament? Did they examine each applicant’s judicial philosophy? Did they take into […]

The Cleveland Plain Dealer came out with a strong editorial supporting judicial elections and a campaign rule that would let judicial candidates list their party affiliations in campaign ads – a move the paper called “a big plus for free speech, common sense and Ohio voters.”

If you are going to engage in judicial overreaching, why not reach for it all?
The “merit-selection” movement has now entered its inevitable new phase. In a stunning rejection of more than two centuries of Constitutional advice and consent, the American Bar Association is touting a proposal that would institutionalize the role of home-state senators […]

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis B. Butler, Jr., remains Exhibit A in the drive to protect voters’ rights in state judicial elections.
After losing an election to the high court by a whopping two-to-one margin in 2000, Mr. Butler managed to finally secure a place for himself on the bench through an appointment by Gov. […]

On August 7, Tennessee voters can head to the polls to lodge an up-or-down vote on two state Supreme Court justices and five appeals court judges, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
These so-called retention elections are often promoted by advocates of “merit” selection as a means to give the public a voice in determining who sits […]

Opponents of democratic judicial elections seem worried about a new American Justice Partnership Foundation poll that revealed an overwhelming 75% of Americans believe state judges should be elected. They know they’ve got a losing hand and can’t attack the results – so they attack the poll and the pollster.
I’ve already responded to the personal […]

The Chicago Tribune had a thumbsucker over the weekend on the politicization of America’s judiciary that pushed the usual storyline: Americans are “largely clueless” about the judiciary, providing an opening for “special interest lobbies” to have undue influence over the judicial selection process. The recent election defeat of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis […]

Well, at least now we know. The Lansing State Journal reports today the Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm thinks “there are a lot of good ideas” in a proposed amendment to rewrite Michigan’s Constitution and she won’t oppose it.
This is the same ballot initiative that was denounced by the Detroit News as a raw […]

On July 15, we posted the results of a public opinion survey commissioned by the American Justice Partnership Foundation which revealed that an overwhelming 75% of Americans believe state Supreme Court justices should be elected by the people.
Today, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts – a group funded by George Soros which is fighting to take away […]