Choose judges on merit, chief justice of NC Supreme Court says

Carolina Journal’s Rick Henderson reports on remarks made Saturday by North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin:

North Carolina Chief Justice Mark Martin isn’t happy with the way state judges get on the bench.

And he’d like voters to decide if they agree with him.

At his annual address to the N.C. Bar Association’s annual convention, given Saturday morning in Asheville, Martin called for a constitutional amendment changing the process for picking judges. It would replace direct elections with “merit selection,” a version of the assisted appointment process used in 34 states and the District of Columbia for all openings on the bench. (Forty-six states use the merit process for some judges, but not all.)

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