Not for the first time, and certainly not the last time, the issue of merit selection for judges was mentioned in a Wisconsin State journal editorial.
One might have almost missed the larger point of the editorial, given the emotion that has been spent on the collective bargaining issue in the state for over a month. But in the midst of the political chaos that has now taken a legal turn, comes another example of why merit selection for judges is one more people need to be mindful of.
Over and over CP has advocated for merit selection, and applauds the WSJ for repeating the call by pointing out why this needed reform in our state’s judicial system would serve us all.
Unfortunately, because Wisconsin relies on unilateral appointments by the governor and popular elections to select its judges, Sumi’s ruling delaying publication of the collective bargaining law has been questioned on partisan grounds.
Her decision, after all, is extremely popular among the union-loving Dane County population that elects her. And now an ongoing judicial race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court has become a referendum on collective bargaining rules, rather than an exercise in picking the most experienced, independent and impartial judge.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 