Many states in America select their judges through an open election process. Thus, judges run for the post of judge just as any other politician runs for office. The upside? Judges become accountable to voters. The downside, and there are many? Judges, like other politicians in America, become reliant on campaign contributions. There are two interesting pieces in yesterday's USA Today highlighting the importance of money in the process of electing judges. One piece, written by someone in support of trial lawyers giving campaign contributions to judges makes the argument that if big business interests are giving money to judges, trial lawyers have no choice but to match those contributions in the hope of being able to equally influence judges. A sad commentary on this method of choosing judges, really. The other piece, I think, nicely points out the flaws of this system. Both pieces provide a nice understanding of the problems with electing judges in America.
