Letters: Why we need merit selection for judges

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Earlier this month, the National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League passed a resolution supporting the merit selection of judges. ADL was concerned that the pressure of electoral politics can and does affect the fair and impartial administration of justice. For example, judges running in contested elections must obtain campaign contributions, often from the very lawyers who appear before them, creating at least the appearance of bias. In states that require judges to run for re-election, judges can feel pressured to make sentences unjustly harsh merely to please the electorate.

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During the ADL debate, I spoke in favor of the resolution for an additional reason: prejudicial attitudes often make it difficult for judicial candidates with ethnic-sounding names to be elected in countywide races.

My own experience is a case in point. During my first judicial campaign, two Chicagoans told me, “Just what we need, another Jew judge.” At a political event in Lemont, a band stood silent until a Jewish judicial candidate was introduced, at which point the band struck up Hava Negila to make sure the audience knew the candidate was Jewish.

Regrettably, voters who know nothing about the judicial candidates’ credentials often reject those with Jewish and other ethnic-sounding names. This unfortunate reality produces a less diverse bench without regard to the competence, integrity, or credentials of the rejected candidates.

In addition to the undesirable effect of latent prejudice, voters simply do not have sufficient information about judicial candidates to make an informed decision. Exhibit A: a Cook County judicial candidate charged with felony official misconduct for impersonating a judge was recently elected with 95 percent of the vote.

For all of the above reasons, ADL has resolved to support efforts to promote judicial fairness and impartiality, including supporting constitutional amendments to change from judicial elections to other selection methods more likely to ensure judicial integrity. Such a constitutional amendment in Illinois is long overdue and should be enacted without delay.

James A. Shapiro, Lake View

Include everyone

While I agree that investing in infrastructure can be important to our economy and working families, doing so by lowering a workers pay by eliminating prevailing wages, is not the way to accomplish good results.

Columnist Michael Barone’s concerns about delays in reconstructing the Bayonne Bridge in New York to accommodate increased shipping traffic from a widened Panama Canal [“Spending on roads, bridges,” Tuesday] shows where his loyalties lie: taking care of China and all those that profit from cheap goods, not creating jobs for America. Just ask independent truckers how bypassing the West coast will affect them.

His call for elimination of much of the EPA and construction restrictions makes me think of the Bhopal India disaster of 1984, where in one night 3,787 died and over 16,000 people were claimed over time, due to lax safety regulations and considerations.

Mr. Barone has ideas on privatizing the air traffic controllers and much of our infrastructure so as to improve efficiencies. He uses Canada as an example of success. I would like to use Canada as an example also, including its Universal Health Care, reduced drug costs, pension plans, elderly programs, and government-funded education programs.

If we are to improve our system we need to include everyone, not just the few business people at the top.

Scott R. Zuhr, Park Ridge

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