No Merit for Virginia
August 27, 2008
An editorial from the Roanoke Times calls for reforming Virginia’s judicial selection process that makes the process “free of political influence” – but then promotes the one system that ensures that powerful special interest groups will control who sits on the bench.
Right now, Virginia judges are chosen by the General Assembly. When the Assembly can’t agree – which often happens when control of the chambers is divided – either the governor or circuit judges make the nomination, depending on which court has a vacancy.
To replace this “dysfunctional” system, the Roanoke Times supports a “merit” selection scheme – where a small group, usually dominated by lawyers, meets in secret to pick judges. The Times bemoans the fact that judges today are “beholden to lawmakers for getting and keeping their jobs.” But isn’t it preferable – not to mention more democratic – for judges to be responsible to elected representatives chosen by the people, rather than having them be responsible to a completely unelected, unaccountable panel controlled by legal special interests?
In state after state that has experimented with secret/merit selection, the makeup of the judicial nominating commissions are determined by special interest groups such as the state trial lawyers association and the state bar association. Far from freeing judicial selection from “political influence,” these Star Chambers merely move politics behind closed doors, away from public oversight and scrutiny. Read more