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Saturday, October 21, 2006
Ind. Courts - Editorial: "Election of judges should be nonpartisan"
"Election of judges should be nonpartisan" is the headline to an editorial today in the Bloomington Herald-Times (not freely available online):
At a recent candidate's forum, a question from the audience drew a unanimous "Yes!" from all four of the candidates running in contested [local] judge races.The issue: Wouldn't it be better if judge races weren't partisan?
The school board races, mercifully, are conducted without partisan affiliation. This improves the school board races - focusing them more on issues than on party biases.
It's not surprising that judge candidates would love to have the same freedom from party platforms. They are rightly expected, while on the bench, to steer clear of all semblance of party affiliation.
So during election season, those "nonpartisan" elected officials have to run back to their parties and hope the fact that they've ignored politics for the past five years will not be held against them.
It's time for those who care about this to mount a campaign to get the regulations changed. Maybe a bipartisan group of judges should kick this effort off.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 21, 2006 12:55 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts