In response to the recent death of the last living Founding Father, James Madison, a youthful Abraham Lincoln encouraged his audience to "let respect for the laws... become the political reason of the Country." He noted that breaking the law "is tread on his father's blood," and that only "reverence for the constitution and laws" will safeguard our political structures and "retain the loyalty of the people." 1
Lincoln understood that the rule of law is the foundation of a democratic society. Our justices serve as the system of law's defenders. Trust in the rule of law will diminish and society will fracture if they do not implement the law in a competent, efficient, and fair way. As a result, our technologyFor choosing and keeping judges, merit should be used, and our court should be stable, experienced, and competent.
The 86th Legislature established a special committee to investigate judicial selection, guaranteeing that the 87th Legislature will address judicial selection in Texas in 2021. The goal of this paper is to address Texas' current judicial selection system, to provide a summary of different judicial selection systems in other states, and to provide a collection of study materials on this subject. The purpose of this document is to aid public discussion and legislative deliberation of how judges will be selected in Texas in the future. There is no ideal method for selecting judges, and there is no system in another state that Texas should completely implement.