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Monday, November 06, 2006
Ind. Courts - More on: "You'll elect them Tuesday, but no matter whom you pick, all 20 candidates will win"
Referencing its story from Friday that was headed "Marion Superior Court is set for '07: You'll elect them Tuesday, but no matter whom you pick, all 20 candidates will win," the Indianapolis Star editorializes today in favor of a merit-based selection process:
Buried near the end of the ballot Tuesday will be 10 Republican and 10 Democratic Party candidates for Marion County Superior Court judge. Regardless of voters' decisions, all 20 will wind up on the court. The rigged contest was decided months ago.In past elections, voters have been able to reject one judge on the ballot. In the old system, there was one more candidate on the ballot than open seats on the bench. Now, even that nod to the electorate is gone.
To win "election,'' aspiring judicial candidates woo precinct committee officials at Republican and Democratic picnics, dinners and meetings. They mostly hit up lawyers to fund their campaigns.
The most critical election for these candidates isn't in November. It's the county slating conventions. This year, no one challenged the Republican slate in the primary and three challengers to the Democratic slate were handily defeated.
About the only meaningful input outside the political process is a pre-primary Indianapolis Bar Association lawyer survey of candidates.Two candidates don't even have to go through this minimal vetting process. Republican and Democratic county chairmen each pick a candidate to appear on the general election ballot. That ridiculous practice should be abolished. If judges are to be elected, all should face the voters, not selected by political bosses.
If judges continue to be elected, the state should return to a system in which there are more candidates on the ballot than vacancies on the court.
However, state and local bar associations, as well as Indiana Supreme Court Justice Randall Shepard, have advocated for creation of nonpartisan merit selection for judges. It removes politics from the process, gives judges greater independence and eliminates fundraising.
Merit selection has failed to clear the General Assembly in the past, in part because political parties would have retained too much control.
Lawmakers should come up with a fairer selection process -- one truly based on merit.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 6, 2006 08:52 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts