Broken: The merit retention system

This past fall's kerfuffle over merit retention for justices of the Florida Supreme Court was quite confusing to most observers. Those against retaining the justices noted several past legal decisions by the three justices as reasons to not retain them. Those in favor of retaining the justices listed positives about the candidates but mostly were appalled at the alleged attack on the judicial system. They were quick to point out that two of the justices were women, one of whom was black. I am not sure there was a more irrelevant reason for voting for or against a justice but this group played the gender and race cards almost from the start.

What I found particularly offensive was the oft penned statement “they may have a right to do this (state that they do not believe or want a justice to be retained), but they have no right to say that it is in good faith (arguing that any vote against retention is inherently in bad faith).” Could they have been more pompous or offensive?

To no one's surprise, all three justices were retained. They benefited from the more than $300,000 expenditure by the Florida Bar to run an “educational program” known as “The Vote's in Your Court.” The Bar also handed out 360,000 copies of its information (campaign) brochure, placed speakers at community events and lobbied the media about its position on merit retention. If you happened to hear any of the Bar-sponsored speakers, or saw any of the social media efforts, you were certainly clear about what vote they wanted you to make.