Justice O’Connor would like to see judicial elections ended, to protect the independence of the third branch of government. “We need to encourage judges and justices, when they speak in public arenas, to talk about these matters, and to keep reminding Americans about the importance of an independent judiciary,” said O’Connor.
She thinks that if Americans were better informed about the judiciary, the need to abolish elections would be self-evident. The states with judicial elections “allow campaign contributions to be made, and there can be vigorous and unfortunate campaigns. All of those states initially had appointed judges, and after Andrew Jackson became president, he had some very populist ideals, and he started persuading some of the states that they should elect judges, not appoint them. First state was Georgia. And they’re still doing that,” she said. “Look at the Caperton case. John Grisham’s novel on appeals might be based on it. It should be a source of real concern for Americans. If we have to resort to litigation, we want to feel issues will be decided fairly and impartially in court by a competent judge who is not subject to influence by campaign contributions and leanings towards one side or another.”
Some might argue that being involved in elections forces judges to be more transparent and to educate the public about what they do, but O’Connor disagrees with that notion. “If you have looked at some of the television ads in states that have judicial elections, I do not think you would be persuaded that it’s educational,” she said. “It’s not a very civilized or educational campaign."
*Incidentally, such a policy preference in Tennessee should be trumped by the plain text of our Constitution, but I digress . . .
