Does Electing Judges Make Sense?

Colorado voters this fall will consider Amendment 40, which will bring up appellate judges for recall elections more often, and impose a ten year term limit on judges that will prevent many of them from running again in the next retention election.

Do voters cast intelligent votes on judges? Probably not.

A Zogby International survey shows that most Americans have only a dim idea which judges sit on even the prestigious and exhaustively media covered U.S. Supreme Court. Of those who responded:

[O]nly a quarter can name two Supreme Court Justices . . . . [11 percent] were able to name the Supreme Court Justice confirmed in January 2006, Samuel Alito.

Awareness of state appellate judges is almost certainly weaker.

Cross Posted at Colorado Confidential.