Correspondent of the Day, June 16, 2009: Merit selection for judges is a must

Merit Selection For Judges Is a Must
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the news story, "Who's Judging Our Judges?" by Tyler Whitley: During more than 30 years as a practicing lawyer, I have had extensive experience with courts around the nation. Let me assure the citizens of Virginia that we have extremely high-quality judges in Virginia. The professionalism and civility of Virginia courtrooms is legendary.

For many years, I have been a member of the Judiciary Committee of the Virginia Bar Association and was the chair for several years. In the mid-1990s, it became apparent that the judicial selection process was becoming increasingly politicized. The root cause seemed to be that the proportion of legislators who were lawyers had dropped dramatically over the years. Lawyer-dominated General Assemblies approached judicial selection more as legal professionals with deep respect for the judicial system than as politicians. Non-lawyer politicians cannot be reasonably expected to have the same approach. Also, politics generally has become more partisan.

The solution is a merit selection process where bar associations of the lawyers of the area over which the judge will preside screen candidates and provide a list of well-qualified candidates from which the General Assembly makes the final selection. High quality is ensured, narrow self-interest and partisan considerations are minimized, and the General Assembly retains its ultimate power and authority. Merit selection is being used successfully in parts of Virginia.

The Virginia Bar Association has proposed and supported various forms of merit-selection legislation many times. Often, there has been considerable support in the General Assembly. But each time, merit selection bills have failed. Hard-core politicians were more interested in their personal prerogatives, power, and self-interest than in the interests of Virginia.

Whitley has done a major public service by publicizing the need for merit selection of judges. Please continue to purse this matter vigorously. John Barry Donohue Jr. Richmond.