Appointed or Elected: How Justices on Elected State Supreme Courts Are Actually Selected

During at least part of the post–World War II period, the constitutions of thirty-six states called for the popular election of the judges of the states’ highest courts. In practice, only slightly more than half of those judges (excluding strictly interim appointees) initially obtained their positio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law & social inquiry 2023-05, Vol.48 (2), p.371-406
Main Author: Kritzer, Herbert M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Constitutions
Courts
Decision making
Elections
Governors
Judges & magistrates
Judicial elections
Legitimacy
Mandatory retirement
Nominations
Political appointments
Political parties
Post World War II period
Retention
Retirement
Special elections
State courts
State elections
Supreme courts
World War II
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:During at least part of the post–World War II period, the constitutions of thirty-six states called for the popular election of the judges of the states’ highest courts. In practice, only slightly more than half of those judges (excluding strictly interim appointees) initially obtained their positions by election. This article examines the likelihood of initial election in actual practice, how it has varied over time, and various factors that might be related to election versus appointment (e.g., type of election, mandatory retirement). It concludes that state norms play a substantial role in determining patterns of actual selection.
ISSN:0897-6546
1747-4469
1545-696X
DOI:10.1017/lsi.2022.23