A recent
Miami Herald article about a movement to amend the Florida Constitution to allow for judicial term limits serves as a good reminder that each state controls the manner in which their state court judges are selected and how long each may serve. The article explains that:
In Florida, justices and appeals court judges serve six-year terms.
They aren’t reelected as trial court judges are; rather, they go before
voters in an up-or-down vote as to whether they should stay in office.
The
merit retention system was added to Florida’s Constitution by voters in
the 1970s, but no justice has been removed from office because of it.
From 1980 to 2014, 42 Supreme Court justices have faced a merit
retention vote. All received a majority, allowing them to stay in
office.
Read
This illustrates how some states have a mixture of the selection processes we discussed in class. Here we see a system that has competitive elections for its lower court judges while uses the retention system for its higher court judges. Those wondering why some would want to limit the term of higher court judges need look no further than this quote from the article:
Rep. John Wood, R-Winter Haven, said term limits for the state’s seven
justices and 64 appellate judges would ensure “diversity of legal
philosophy,” “enhance the proper role of the judiciary,” and “create a
true balance of power” with the Legislature and the governor, both
already subject to term limits.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government
It seems relatively clear that advocates of this changes believe that judges in Florida have become too entrenched and too powerful.
