NEWS CLIPS

Missouri Court Plan

Three cheers for Dan Margolies’ article on the Missouri court plan (9/4, Business, “Many opinions on judgeships”). Do we really want judges to campaign, raise money and be good politicians?

We do not demand that the executive and legislative branches of government be impartial. To the contrary, we elect those whom we think share our opinions. However, judges perform a much different function.

For example, the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution is exempt from majority rule. Judges have to impartially apply these constitutional guarantees against intrusion by the government, even though the majority of voters might disagree.

If having judges run for office is such a good idea, why not have the United States Supreme Court do so? The specter of Justice Scalia holding a fundraiser in your hometown or Justice Kennedy knocking on your door to ask for your vote ought to be enough to put this idea to rest.

Michael T. White
Kansas City

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