From the St. Louis Post Dispatch

A MATTER OF OPINION: The madness of electing judges
By MIKE LAWRENCE
08/26/2004
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Campaign rules like these are an injustice to justice and prove why our judges should be appointed.

As sitting judges, Lloyd Karmeier and Gordon Maag have been obliged to wear the Lady of Justice's blindfold. Now, the two Southern Illinois jurists, competing in what is likely the hottest race ever for a state Supreme Court seat, are donning muzzles.
Welcome to an Alice-in-Wonderland world where judicial aspirants essentially are compelled to campaign without acting like candidates. They must contend without contentiousness, discuss issues without committing, amass campaign treasuries without knowing, supposedly, the identities of their major benefactors and carry Republican or Democratic banners without waving them.
These strictures are imposed by a legal establishment determined to preserve confidence in an unbiased judiciary, even though judges are elected on a partisan basis. But the limitations invite hypocrisy, encourage deception, empower interest groups and can unleash the wildest and woolliest of campaign cowboys.
In the majority of electoral duels, voters want office-seekers to take definitive positions on issues and are frustrated by equivocation. The media push candidates to highlight their differences, preferably without vicious and misleading attacks. In a real sense, crystallization better informs the electorate.
But can judicial candidates take specific stances on potentially litigious matters without compromising their credibility as a judge? Can a contender question the competence or fairness of a judge seeking higher office without denigrating the judiciary? These matters resonate with good-government types and, most profoundly, with associations representing attorneys and judges.
The lawyer organizations do not necessarily represent the public's interest; indeed, they appear equally, if not more, committed to deflecting criticism of the profession. Still, the Illinois State Bar Association has convinced Maag and Karmeier to embrace conduct codes that strictly limit their rhetoric and advertising. The two also pledge to disavow any third-party activity or commentary that inappropriately demeans the judiciary.
There is too much at stake in this 5th Judicial District face-off to limit the campaign agenda. The district includes Madison County, widely considered a haven for those filing personal-injury lawsuits and a hell hole for their targets, and tort-reform combatants are choosing favorites and preparing for battle. The outcome will either embolden the Maag-backing lawyers who label themselves warriors for victim rights or energize the Karmeier-boosting business leaders who blame the Supreme Court for knocking down laws that discourage frivolous lawsuits and unreasonable damage awards. Moreover, a Republican victory would give the GOP another spot on the Democrat-dominated tribunal, which occasionally referees highly partisan fights.
Republican Karmeier, a circuit court judge, must ponder every public utterance; so must Democrat Maag, an appellate court justice. But business groups and health care providers won't hesitate to tag Maag as an ally of greedy attorneys, and trial lawyers won't blush at labeling Karmeier a tool of big, bad business. Already, operatives seeking to discredit Karmeier have admitted to pawing through trash, and two pseudo-Columbos allegedly wheedled their way into a probing conversation with the ex-wife of the judge's finance chairman.
Through it all, the candidates will declare they have not conspired with their more aggressive supporters, just as judicial hopefuls in other years averred they really did not know who was providing the bulk of campaign cash raised by their finance committees.
Illinois should stop electing judges. The governor should appoint them, subject to state Senate confirmation. But, for now, bring on the Mad Hatter.
Mike Lawrence, who served as press secretary and senior adviser to former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, is interim director of the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.