Picking Impartial Judges

It shouldn't surprise anyone that state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Albright doesn't want to change the way judges are selected in West Virginia. Albright, after all, has benefitted from the current system.

But the system is bad for Mountain State residents, who ought to be upset that Albright is using his influence in an attempt to keep them from even considering an alternative. He wants to lock in place a system that rewards politicians instead of encouraging those who dispense true justice.

West Virginia is one of only six states that have retained a system of electing judges and Supreme Court justices who run in political party primaries, then with party labels in general elections. Most states use appointed judges and justices or nonpartisan elections.

When candidates for judicial posts are affiliated with political parties, they must cope with political pressure, critics of the system point out. Judges appointed or picked through nonpartisan elections are much more likely to behave with the independence that is required of impartial courts.

Again, don't take our word for it: Residents of 44 states have come to the same conclusions and have rejected partisan politics in selecting judges and justices.

It's not that the issue hasn't been discussed before in West Virginia. Changing to some nonpartisan method of naming judges and justices has been discussed for many years. The state Bar Association examined the issue 20 years ago.

Now, Bar Association leaders want to investigate the issue again. But Albright doesn't even want it aired before West Virginians. He has written to Bar Association officials urging them to drop the idea.

"This is not the right time for a judicial selection commission. At least postpone it; better yet, deep-six it," Albright wrote, adding, "If you proceed now, you are embarking on an ill-advised course at a totally inappropriate time."

Albright is thinking, of course, of the fact that Justice Warren McGraw - one-third of the liberal high court triumvirate of which Albright is a part - faces opposition in the November election. Albright and McGraw would prefer that no discussion of how to pick truly impartial justices occurs - especially before the election.

Bar Association officials should ignore pressure that clearly is based in partisan politics. They should open public debate on how West Virginians pick judges and high court justices. Nonpartisan selection such as that used in 44 other states needs to be adopted here. Albright and McGraw are poster children for a campaign to alter the current politics-based system.