The opinion section of philly.com has an interesting poll relevant to merit selection.  When asked whether former Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Willie Singletary’s indiscretions “make the case for appointing rather than electing” judges, 42% of readers agreed that higher standards are needed.  Further, 21.6% of respondents agreed that higher standards should be in place, “or at least require them to be lawyers.”  Only 24.2% of respondents expressed the opinion that “it’s voters’ right if they want to pick knucklehead judges.” Lastly, 12% believed that nonlawyers were capable of handling traffic violations.  The percentages may change because the poll is still open for readers.  Click here to see the current results.
 
The poll was created in connection with a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial, “Judges Behaving Badly Are Too Common.”  For more information on former Judge Singletary, see PMC’s previous article.