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The Real Tragedy Is When Voters Have No Say-So In Combating The Judicial Tyranny
By Matthew Eppinette | May 14, 2008
So says an editorial by Phyllis Schlafly at Townhall.com.
She’s writing specifically on a Kansas ballot proposition that would allow voters in Johnson County to elect judges to the 10th judicial district, rather than having them appointed by lawyers under what is known as the Missouri Plan.
How state judges get their jobs is a matter of state option, and there are a wide variety of rules.
Some state court judges are elected by the people, some in partisan elections, some in nonpartisan elections. About half the states, including Kansas, use some variation of the so-called Missouri Plan, a process that originated in the 1940s, which gives broad control to licensed attorneys.
The implications reach far beyond Kansas.
We’ve got a better chance of sticking with the will of the American people if state judges are elected rather than appointed by lawyers who have an interest in winning big-verdict cases before those very judges.
See also: AUL State Supreme Court Project
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Topics: SSCP |
