On the Politics of Judicial Selection: Lawyers and State Campaigns for the Merit Plan

This article investigates the supportof lawyers' groups for the merit plan, a form ofselecting and retaining state judges. Although thatsupport is justified on the grounds of improvedadministration of justice, this analysis links it tothe self-interest of lawyers. First, merit planprocedures involve lawyers and bar associationsprominently in the selection process. Second, byreducing a judge's susceptibility to politicalpressure, the procedures increase the amount oflitigation in the state. This article finds thatmerit plan procedures are associated with betweeneighteen and thirty-two percent more filings in statesupreme courts between 1985 and 1994.