Litigation

Challenge to MO Ballot Measure is Rejected

By Peter Hardin

A proposed ballot measure for direct election of judges in Missouri got a go-ahead in court after a judge ruled a challenge to it was invalid.

Lobbyist James Harris, who heads a group called ShowMe Better Courts, was quoted by the St. Louis Post Dispatch as saying signatures will be collected in order to get the initiative on the November ballot.

Harris recently wrote a commentary saying Missouri’s current system for choosing state Supreme Court judges ?is broken and failing to meet the needs of everyone but a group of elite special interests and greedy trial lawyers.? Defenders, however, say it doesn’t make sense to replace the current system with one beholden to political bosses, election campaigns and big spending.

Under the current system, a nominating commission submits a slate of three candidates to the governor, who chooses from that list. The nationally recognized merit system is used for selecting appellate court judges and trial court judges in urban counties. The judges may be retained or removed by voters later.

To learn more about the controversy in Missouri, check out earlier Gavel Grab articles. You can learn more about how merit selection works from Justice at Stake?s issues page on the topic by clicking here.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 01, 2010 (boomark / email).