Law Commons^™

On The Validity And Vitality Of Arizona’S Judicial Merit Selection System: Past, Present, And Future, Mark I. Harrison, Sara S. Greene, Keith Swisher, Meghan H. Grabel

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article demonstrates that merit selection is functioning commendably in Arizona and, for the most part, provides the public with a judicial selection process far more informative and generally superior to “traditional elections.” Part I of this Article sketches the history of Arizona’s merit selection of judges and its previous state-wide judicial election system. Part II discusses and analyzes attacks on merit selection and, in addition, assesses the effect of the Judicial Performance Review program initiated in 1992 to enhance the efficacy of the merit selection system. Finally, Part III describes the current status of merit selection in Arizona and …