Keep Minnesota's Judicial Elections Non-Political

Judicial elections in Minnesota are changing.

We don't know how much. We don't know how fast. But we do know they're changing.

The reason: Two recent court decisions that changed the ground rules for the judicial elections. As a result, judicial candidates may now:

• Ask for and use political party endorsements in running for judge.
• Speak to political gatherings such as conventions.
• Identify themselves as members of a political party.
• Directly ask for campaign contributions in writing or in person from groups of 20 or more (rather than through a campaign committee).

Judicial candidates may also take positions on "disputed legal or political issues" in running for judge. We at Minnesota Women Lawyers think these changes are taking our state in the wrong direction. We believe that "Judges and Politics Don't Mix."

Judges should be following the law, not their own personal political views or party platforms.

Judicial seats are fundamentally different from legislative and executive seats. We elect legislators and executive branch officials to implement a political platform. Judges should not have a political platform.

For the judiciary to play its role as arbiter of legal disputes, the public must have faith that judges are approaching their jobs neutrally and without a political agenda.

Judges should be selected based on the depth and quality of their legal experience, their temperament, their good character and their willingness to follow the law. They should not be selected based on politics.

Minnesota voters should reject a politicized judiciary. Judges and politics don't mix.