Litigation

NY Times Spotlights Drive to End Judicial Elections

By Peter Hardin

A new drive, led by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra O’Connor, to bring an end to state judicial elections has captured  attention in the New York Times, which published an article about the campaign’s goals and players headlined “Effort Begun to End Voting for Judges.”

The campaign was announced by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System in Colorado, and was the subject of an earlier Gavel Grab post. The effort involves judges, political officials and lawyers and is aimed at fighting the perception of ethical conflict that campaign spending can fuel.

In November, Nevadans will vote on a constitutional amendment to set up a judicial appointment and retention election system. A partial move to judicial selection commissions is under discussion in Ohio. You can read about these kinds of selection systems on Justice at Stake’s issues page. IAALS is a partner of Justice at Stake.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 24, 2009 (boomark / email).