Litigation

O?Connor Talks Election Reform in MN

By Peter Hardin

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, traveling widely to call for an end to state judicial elections, visited Minnesota to support eliminating contested judicial elections there.

Reformers including former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie are seeking a change in Minnesota’s constitution to replace contested judicial elections with up-or-down retention elections, and to require that gubernatorial appointments of judges be based on merit selection, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Justice O’Connor “advised legislators that if they put such an amendment before Minnesota voters this year, other states will notice, and follow suit,” the Star-Tribune reported. She also said the Supreme Court’s recent Citizens United decision likely will bring corporate-sponsored ads to bear on judicial elections.

You can learn more about reform efforts in Minnesota from Gavel Grab, and about appointment/retention systems from Justice at Stake’s issues page.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 11, 2010 (boomark / email).