Study: U.S. Courts Hurt By Partisan Judicial Elections

Partisan judicial elections led to less competent and impartial judges,according to a study released by the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University, in Alabama. Using data collected from a survey of attorneys at large companies nationwide by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform, the Johnson Center found a correlation between partisan elections and what were deemed to be inferior judges. The “empirical evidence,” the study states, “seems to suggest that partisan judicial elections lead to relatively poorer quality legal institutions and undermine the rule of law.”