The Clarion-Ledger Editorial, 11/16/8
This state’s judicial elections continue to demean the dignity of the court and to see voters manipulated by special interest groups seeking to hold sway over the judicial philosophies of the courts.
The 2008 judicial elections in the state were a textbook case for why judges should be appointed, not elected. Instead, appellate court seats in Mississippi are like those in many other states. They are doled out at a political price tag of up to $1 million per judge to the candidate who will turn his or her head to the sleazy campaign tactics that have come to dictate judicial elections.
Four incumbent Mississippi Supreme Court justices sought re-election this year. Three were defeated, but that’s not the problem.