Smith out-of-touch about appointing judges

You will hear a lot about whether or not we should appoint our state Supreme Court judges this year.

Jim Smith wants to appoint them. He’s said so several, several, several times.

Unfortunately, most of the nation does not agree with Smith. From a piece on AmericanCourthouse.com:

An overwhelming 75% of American voters believe state Supreme Court justices should be elected by the people. The results come from a new nationwide public opinion survey just released by the American Justice Partnership Foundation. Only 21% favored the so-called “merit selection” process – where a small commission of lawyers meets in secret to decide who will sit on the bench.

Despite a comprehensive campaign by well-financed special interest groups and heavy lobbying by the legal elite, Americans are unwavering in their support for the democratic election of judges. Support for judicial elections was remarkably stable among voters, even when presented with numerous arguments against it.

If you want to read the actual study, conducted by the American Justice Partnership Foundation, click here.

Of course, we don’t have to conduct a poll to find out what Mississippians thinks about electing our judges. We know how they feel because we’re talking to them everyday.