Our state constitution says that the citizens of Oregon get to vote for Supreme Court Judges. But we haven’t done this in years.
WHY – Because of corruption. As much for the judges as the governor.
Here is how it works: In Oregon, when a Justice steps down from the bench before his or her term is up for whatever reason, the governor – by law – gets to fill that position until the next election. Now any judge that the governor picks to fill this position has to agree to step down before his or her term is up so that the governor can pick another judge. That shows the governor and the judge are in collusion. Not good for judge nor governor – right? But worse for us.
At election time the name of the judge the governor picked appears on the ballot. No other name appears on the ballot for this position and so this candidate, picked by the governor, will win even if nobody votes for him or her. This has been going on for years.
That means that these judges decide issues politically instead of judiciously.
How does this effect you?