It should by now be obvious to anyone who voted for judges in Cook County that this method of selecting judges borders on the ludicrous.
The vast majority of voters have no idea who the candidates are and simply select names that appeal to them.
Judges can and often do have an enormous impact on our lives. Due to public apathy, we are willing to tolerate a system that allows for anyone who can figure out how to be placed on the ballot to become a judge in a system that has become as chancy as a game of roulette.
Whatever may be the merits of the election system in small-town America, where everyone in the county knows the few lawyers who practice there and who run for the office of judge, it certainly cannot be the measure of an acceptable system in the Chicago metropolitan area, where no one knows these candidates except for their relatives and friends.
It is time for a revamping of the system so that the selection process is not a mockery. Instead there should be merit selection of judges through an appointment process where a blue-ribbon committee would recommend appointments to the governor.
Certainly there are very fine men and women who serve as judges, but they should not arrive at that position by the sound of their name or the luck of the draw.
