Wisconsin- A blatant effort to turn impartial judges into politicians with robes.
Traditional ways to win a case in court include presenting a better argument or hiring a more convincing lawyer. Then there's the sleazy option: trying to buy a judge who will vote your way.
Interest groups from both sides of the political spectrum are trying the buy-a-judge route in an election today for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which soon will be wrestling with a challenge to the state's controversial new law curbing public employees' bargaining power. Anyone who has an interest in impartial justice ought to be appalled.
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Conservatives and business groups on one side, vs. liberals and unions on the other, have spent more than $3 million to put a judge on the state's highest court, one they expect to vote their way.
The collective bargaining law is championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker and opposed by labor unions and Democratic legislators, who fled the state in an unsuccessful attempt to block it.
But where you stand on the power of unions hardly matters. The issue is the blatant effort to turn impartial judges into politicians with robes — and turn courts into an arm of government run by special interests with deep pockets. It's enough to make merit selection of judges a preferred alternative to competitive elections.
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2011-04-05-editorial05_ST2_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip