Time to Consider Judicial Reform

Express-News Editorial Board -

Bexar County's March primary elections will feature seven local contested judicial contests. When the general election rolls around in November, 17 countywide judicial elections will be on the ballot.

These races will be overshadowed by a hotly contested gubernatorial battle, congressional races and other campaigns that traditionally draw more attention than judicial seats.
In other large Texas counties, the same dynamic will be at play.

Population growth causes the number of courts to increase, and the average person's ability to thoroughly keep track of judicial races decreases.
As Texans watch the 2010 elections unfold, it is a good time to consider changes in the way judges are selected.

While politics will be part of any system, merit selection plans that feature appointment, particularly using a commission, and retention elections instead of partisan elections are worthy of serious consideration.

Merit selection plans are introduced almost every session of the Legislature, usually involving only statewide races, but have yet to reach voters in the form of constitutional amendments necessary to make the needed changes.

In a noteworthy development last month, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor joined the effort to eliminate partisan judicial elections across the nation. The former high court judge became the leader of the O'Connor Judicial Selection Initiative, which was launched by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.

O'Connor told the New York Times the she hopes to raise the stature of judges beyond “politicians in robes.”

And the cause got a boost from the Supreme Court last year in a ruling that required judges to recuse themselves from cases involving litigants who had contributed large amounts of money to their election campaigns.

In recent years, polls have shown that Americans are concerned about the influence of contributions on judicial rulings.

While judicial candidates will tell voters that they can rule on cases without being swayed by contributions, the top court in the land has now acknowledged that large contributions raise legitimate questions about due process.

The combination of forcing judges to be politicians and the overwhelming number of judicial races makes a good argument for reform. We hope voters will consider that argument when they either spend an inordinate amount of time to learn about judicial candidates or confront a ballot filled with the names of candidates they know little about.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/Time_to_consider_judicial_reform.html