4 - Challenging and Changing State Judicial Selection

Summary

Chapter 4 discusses the types of cases that are the most consequential: those challenging the existing system of judicial selection and those concerning proposed or enacted changes to the system. The majority of challenges to systems were brought under the Voting Rights Act, which the US Supreme Court found to cover judicial elections, at least in certain ways. Efforts to challenge judicial elections under the one person, one vote doctrine were not successful because that doctrine applied only to “representatives,” a category not including judges. There were unsuccessful challenges brought on other grounds as well. The cases involving proposed and enacted changes covered a wide range of such changes.