Story in the Texas Tribune.
Among other things, elections don't guarantee qualified judges. Key quote:
A brief search of judicial candidates’ TV and web campaign videos brings up plenty of examples, like a spot by former state Rep. Rick Green during his 2010 bid for the Texas Supreme Court.
"Hey, friends. I have some earth-shattering news for you,” he says in the ad. “First of all, this campaign is now Chuck Norris approved. And secondly, we've got our money bomb today."
Green has a law degree but little legal experience. But thanks in part to Norris and some key endorsements from the then-budding Tea Party movement, Green made it to a GOP primary runoff against a candidate with judicial experience.
Does this kind of political wrangling lower the overall quality of the judicial system? Frank Cross, a professor at the University of Texas law and business schools, said it absolutely does.
"Because we have an elected judiciary, our judges are of lower quality,” Cross said. “But it doesn't seem to terribly bother anyone that much."
