Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Law Merit selection of appellate judges
Posted by Max Brantley on Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 3:46 PM
It's hard to figure the chances for such revolutionary legislation without lining up the usual heavyweight special interests — here the Bar Association, Trial Lawyers and corporate interests that have most to win and lose in court, not to mention minority interests — but Sen. Michael Lamoureux is a serious and competent legislator. So who knows?
What am I talking about?
He's filed a bill to provide for merit selection of state Court of Appeals judges. Voters would have to approve the General Assembly setting up such a system. The General Assembly would define the specifics. The 12 judges are now elected from districts. One judge is black. A federal court ruling and the continuing interest of the NAACP in black representation on the bench are likely factors in a discussion of this proposed change.
UPDATE: I dropped a note to Lamoureux. He said he'd like to include the Supreme Court someday, too. He said he hadn't enlisted anyone in the effort, that this was just a starting place.
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Comments (4)
Showing 1-4 of 4
I say we back a judge candidate simply because she has married into a judge family we like.
No matter her only experience is clerking up to this point.
OOps, wait a moment, she done done dumped her husband for a Texarkana big wig lawyer.
Let's back a qualification beyond marriage from here on out.
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dislike
Go with what is/was the Missouri system when I lived there. The judges are appointed from a pool of 3 or 4 recommended as qualified by a Board of lawyers to meet whatever criteria is set by the governor and then come up for a vote for retention at a general election. If the vote is no, then the governor must ask for a new panel to make another selection. You may have to live with a idiot for whatever the time it takes to learn about them and you have a chance to vote them out. You could make the first review a year after they are appointed and then stretch it out for a longer period after that. No lifetime appointments and gets rid of the campaigning. You could make it by District to assure that one part of the state is over-represented and the candidates must reside in that District that he/she is appointed in.
If the Missouri system is so great, why are so many states trying to back out of the Missouri Plan? Senator, usually you do good work, but this effort is misguided. You will never take the politics out of judicial selection - just ask Robert Bork or Goodwin Liu, or the three "merit selected" judges in Iowa who just got canned - best to leave it with The People.
“leave it with The People”
Are not populism & justice antithetical?
“And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.” Alcuin
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