Texas, the paragon of good government shows Arizona the way

Leave it to Russell Pearce to come up with the dumbest ideas. He has a knack for pushing bone-headed policies that almost seem intent on destroying the best of Arizona's governing practices.

The East Valley Tribune has this article about electing judges. Here is my favorite quote:

Across the nation, people who wanted to become judges in state courts in recent years have been engaging in some of the nastiest and newly expensive political campaigns in history.
But in Maricopa County, the courts have avoided the ugliness altogether because of a system put in place by voters in 1974. Judges in the county are chosen by a select panel of legal experts and, ultimately, the governor.
Now, Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, wants to throw the county's judges back into the political arena.

This is a classic case of Pearce trying to solve a non-problem. We have elections for every other seat of power. Having judges appointed keeps them insulated from at least some political pressure and that is a good thing. Judges are supposed to be impartial to the best of their ability. Sure they are political appointees and they have ideologies, but for the most part they follow the law.

I am comfortable with the current system because it seems to work. I am not always happy with the decisions of the courts in the state, but they seem to strike a good balance that well represents the laws and the views of the citizenry. I just don't see where a lot of judges are misbehaving and need to be removed or replaced.

I wish Pearce would just stick to trying to screwing up the budget and stay out of other areas.