Compare And Contrast The Methods Of Judicial Selection

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1 – There are five main methods of judicial selection that are used in the United States. These methods include: partisan elections, nonpartisan elections, legislative elections, gubernatorial appointment, and merit selection. Partisan election is where the judges are put on a ballot with the information of their political party being disclosed. Nonpartisan elections do not distinguish between political party affiliation. Legislative elections are where instead of the public or governor voting, the state legislators vote and choose the judges they want to serve. Gubernatorial appointment is, in essence, where the Governor of a state either A. Chooses a judge for an initial term. B. Selects a judge to fill a vacancy. or C. To retain a judge to serve an additional term. Finally, merit …show more content…

A benefit to the nonpartisan election model is 1. It avoids the voters being blinded by the party affiliation, and 2. They do not attract as much funding from donors to tip the scale in favor of a political party.
A disadvantage to this model of selection is that it could still end up being political. If their affiliation is not put on the ballot, in campaigns it could be issue-based and voters will derive conclusions from that.

A benefit to the legislative is that they were created so there is not one authority figure has too much power.
A disadvantage is they simply do not work well whenever the legislature is so vastly different politically.

An advantage to the gubernatorial appointment model is they protect the independence of the judiciary. This model gets rid of political campaigns and insures that the selection process will be free from corruption.
A disadvantage to this model of selection is the fact that voters do not have a direct choice in the appointment

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