Merit Selection Makes For Wisconsin State Journal Editorial

Once again the most sane way to curtail the partisan nature of placing a judge on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court has made for a must read editorial in the paper.  I have long argued for merit selection, and am heartened that slowly others are coming to see this idea as one that can cut the expense and politicization of court races.

Two more members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court say it’s time to consider merit  selection of high court justices.

“I really think it’s time to take a look again,” Justice Patrick Crooks told  the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism last week.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley similarly said merit reform deserves attention.

This follows Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson’s memo last fall indicating a  willingness to discuss whether high court justices should continue to be elected  in nasty, money-drenched campaigns

If anything, the aggressive partisans on both the left and the right seem  united in their desire to fight endlessly for partisan control of the judicial  branch, just as they now fight for partisan control of the Legislature.

But unlike the Legislature, our highest court isn’t supposed to be  representative. It’s not supposed to advocate on issues.

Our Wisconsin Supreme Court is supposed to be independent and impartial. It’s  supposed to be above the fray.