More on Judges from the Poughkeepsie Journal

From today's Poughkeepsie Journal:

A decision by the nation's highest court to review New York's faulty system for selecting candidates for state Supreme Court justice means the process will, regrettably, continue for at least one more election. When it rules next fall, the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold the view of two other federal courts that the method of selecting candidates for the state's trial courts is unconstitutional and must be changed.

The state needs a process that ensures only the most qualified candidates can become judges in the state's trial courts and still gives voters a voice in who serves on the bench. Neither of those objectives are guaranteed under the current setup...

Regardless of what the federal court ends up deciding, it's clear the existing method for selecting state Supreme Court judges needs fixing.

Though it’s an uphill battle to get powerbrokers to give up their influence over the judiciary, we urge lawmakers to do away with the corrupt closed conventions and to provide qualified candidates who have the support of their party's rank-and-file with meaningful access to the political process.