Below is a link to an opinion piece from the Raleigh News & Observer today. On March 15th on the Civitas Review blog, a post suggested that North Carolina ought to have a discussion about the manner in which we select our judges. In the News & Observer piece, the writer suggests that North Carolina ought to use the merit-selection method to select judges.
The merit-selection method consists of a panel of law experts put together by the governor, requires that the panel have a diversity of opinion, and suggests a list of qualified candidates for the judgeship. The governor would then select someone from the list to serve. Subsequently, the judge would face a retention election where the state votes, based on the judges record and actions on the bench, whether the judge should be retained. This selection method is used is a number of states already.
Perhaps this issue will strike a chord with the people of North Carolina and become an issue in the next campaign. It is good to see that the News & Observer has taken notice.
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