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	<title>American Courthouse</title>
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	<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 14:44:07 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Judicial Selection Reform Pushed in Nebraska</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/16/judicial-selection-reform-pushed-in-nebraska.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/16/judicial-selection-reform-pushed-in-nebraska.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 14:42:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Judicial Elections]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Nebraska]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Merit Selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Nebraska judicial selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Steve Grasz]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Steven Grasz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1860</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Nebraska attorney Steve Grasz continues to push his reform plan to make Nebraska’s “merit” selection system less political and more accountable. In a Lincoln Journal-Star op-ed, Grasz notes that under “merit” selection, political influence is not eliminated, but merely moved behind closed doors, outside public view:
“Instead of the entire electorate participating in and observing the [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are Voters Really Incapable of Choosing Judges?</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/16/are-voters-really-incapable-of-choosing-judges.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/16/are-voters-really-incapable-of-choosing-judges.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 14:37:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Alabama]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Merit Selection]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1858</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An op-ed in the Huntsville (AL) Times caught my eye because it provides more insight into the thinking of “merit” selection proponents.  “Many contemporary voters,” we are told “seem to lack an understanding about the work of state judges and particularly the context of judicial decision-making in the typical case at the local courthouse.”

So, exactly [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title></title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/15/1855.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/15/1855.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 15:05:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Judicial Elections]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Missouri]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Missouri judicial selection]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1855</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Great  follow-up from Carrie Severino on the opportunity Missouri voters will have this November to wrest judicial selection out of the hands of the trial lawyers lobby.  Who currently controls the all-powerful judicial nominating commission in Missouri, Severino asks?
“In Missouri, they tend to be members of the Missouri Association of Trail Attorneys (MATA).  MATA is [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Shady Dealings Rock Michigan High Court</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/11/shady-dealings-rock-michigan-high-court.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/11/shady-dealings-rock-michigan-high-court.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 21:45:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Michigan]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Chief Justice Robert Young]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Michigan Supreme Court]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Robert Young]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1852</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Young is calling on his colleague, Justice Diane Hathaway, to respond publicly to allegations by WXYZ TV she shuffled real estate holdings in and out of her name in order to qualify for a “short sale” on her home in swanky Grosse Pointe Park.
Powerline offers the following analysis from [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>More on Missouri</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/11/more-on-missouri.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/11/more-on-missouri.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 20:18:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Missouri]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Alexander Hamilton]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Federalist 76]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[judical selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Missouri House]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1849</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Carrie Severino at NRO’s Bench Memos weighs in on the pending constitutional amendment in Missouri that would weaken the power of legal special interests when it comes to picking judges.  She insightfully quotes Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist 76 explaining why nomination by the state’s elected chief executive is preferable to an unelected committee.  For a fuller [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Missouri To Vote On “Merit” Selection Reform</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/11/missouri-to-vote-on-%e2%80%9cmerit%e2%80%9d-selection-reform.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/11/missouri-to-vote-on-%e2%80%9cmerit%e2%80%9d-selection-reform.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 15:20:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Judicial Elections]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Merit Selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Missouri]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[judicial nominees]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Missouri House]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[refor]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1845</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“A radical destruction of the judiciary.”  That’s what one hysterical “merit” selection proponent has labeled a constitutional amendment in Missouri that would allow the democratically elected governor to appoint four members to the state’s judicial nominating board instead of the current three.  The proposed amendment will be on the ballot this November, after the [...]]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Reform Proposals for Nebraska</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/10/reform-proposals-for-nebraska.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/10/reform-proposals-for-nebraska.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 14:32:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Merit Selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Nebraska]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Federalist Society]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Nebraska judicial selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Steve Grasz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1843</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[More from Steve Grasz and his Federalist Society paper calling for reforms to make Nebraska’s “merit” selection system more accountable:
“The degree of secrecy is so pervasive that it results in a process with little or no accountability, thereby facilitating influence that is hidden and behind-the-scenes.”
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/10/reform-proposals-for-nebraska.html/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>More Rumblings in Iowa</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/10/more-rumblings-in-iowa.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/10/more-rumblings-in-iowa.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 13:11:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Iowa]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Judicial Elections]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Chuck Hurley]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[David Wiggins]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Defense of Marriage Act]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Iowa Family Policy Center]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Iowa judicial selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Iowa retention elections]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Iowa Supreme Court]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Iowa Supreme Court Justices]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[judicial retention]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[judicial selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[KCCI]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[retention elections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1839</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Iowa Family Policy Center VP Chuck Hurley tells KCCI in Des Moines that the group will likely oppose the retention of state Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins.  Hurley’s organization spearheaded the 2010 drive to dump three Supremes who overturned the Iowa’s legislature’s defense of marriage law.
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/10/more-rumblings-in-iowa.html/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Circling the Wagons in Florida</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/09/circling-the-wagons-in-florida.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/09/circling-the-wagons-in-florida.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 May 2012 22:29:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Merit Selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Florida judicial nominating commission]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Florida Supreme Court]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[judicial retention]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Orlando Sentinel]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Restore Justice 2012]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[retention elections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1837</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Merit” selection proponents like to pretend that retention elections give voters the ultimate say over who sits on the bench.  But the second anyone dares to suggest that a judge should not be retained, the legal aristocracy and its media allies go into hyper-drive to denounce as illegitimate any attempt by voters to actually remove [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/09/circling-the-wagons-in-florida.html/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Calls for &#8220;Merit&#8221; Selection Reform in Nebraska</title>
		<link>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/09/calls-for-merit-selection-reform-in-nebraska.html</link>
		<comments>http://americancourthouse.com/2012/05/09/calls-for-merit-selection-reform-in-nebraska.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 May 2012 21:57:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Pero</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Merit Selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Nebraska]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Federalist Society]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Nebraska judicial selection]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Senator Brad Ashford]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Steven Grasz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://americancourthouse.com/?p=1835</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Add Nebraska to the long list of states with rising complaints about “merit” selection.  In a paper just released by the Federalist Society, Nebraska attorney Steven Grasz argues that the state’s “merit” selection system &#8220;is subject to political manipulation, ideological maneuvering, and undue influence by special interest groups.”  According to Grasz:
“… the current system appears [...]]]></description>
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