Justice Appointments Better Left to the Pros

Direct democracy is a necessity in this country. Being able to vote in open, free elections is important and everyone should have a voice to decide who works in their government. However sometimes appointments should be left to the governor and not to the voice of the Wisconsin voter.Such is the case in the current election for State Supreme Court. For roughly five months the Wisconsin people have been given a chance to learn about the two candidates in contention for the Supreme seat. With the help of the WMC, the voters have instead become distracted with ads that distort the truth and get unprofessional cronies elected. This is not the way a judge should be selected.

A seat on the Supreme Court is not a political position. It is a professional career that only the most qualified are nominated for. In other states, the governor decides who is to take a seat on the court. In this process they don’t have two opposing candidates to choose from. They pick from a short list of professionals that they believe to be the most qualified. A governor also doesn’t just choose one judge from the list and move on. They have a team of officials researching every potential justice and checking every minor detail from their last civil case to essays they wrote in law school.

Instead of the educated decision, Wisconsin voters are swayed by slanderous ads from a Northwoods yahoo with no real credibility. His only backing is a large checkbook from the WMC because they know he’ll lean in their direction.

Choosing a justice cannot be left in the hands of the voter. This isn’t because they aren’t smart enough. It’s because they cannot make an informed decision without dedicated research. If the country leaves every decision up to the voter, Karl Rove’s campaign machine would’ve won Harriet Miers the Chief Justice seat.

Hopefully after all of this is over, the state government will really look into changing the law so that the governor makes the decision for court seats.