Wow, I thought Jerry Ford made a real fight to impeach Earl Warren (his statement about the bar for impeachment being “whatever Congress wants it to be at that given moment in history” came back to haunt him during Watergate), but that article sounds like he was really gunning for Douglas. Perhaps I confused the two.
It seems wikipedia has an answer to my question about which states elect their SC and which ones have the Governor appoint the SC. Seems only seven states use the federal system.
Electing a federal SC would be a bit weird, but having a President elected by electoral college regardless of what happens in Congress seems weird to other countries. Almost all of them have the leader of each party in parliment campaign against each other for who should run the country.
STATE SUPREME COURTS
- Partisan election
Alabama
Illinois
Louisiana
New Mexico
Pennsylvania
Texas
West Virginia
Maryland
- Non-partisan election
Arkansas
Georgia
Idaho
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
South Dakota
Washington
Wisconsin
- Election by the state legislature
Connecticut
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
- Appointment by the Governor
Delaware
Hawaii
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
- The Missouri Plan
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Utah
Wyoming
- Modified Missouri Plan
Florida — The Florida Judicial Nominating Commissions
Tennessee — The Tennessee Plan
Since I’ve done extensive research on most of the states now (I’m just finishing up on Wyoming as of this writing), you might be interested in some of the partisan breakdowns of the courts (as far as I was able to ascertain). Most refuse to identify the partisan affiliations, but I am most happy to (and this is probably the most comprehensive list ever put together on the subject):
- Partisan election
Alabama
8R/1D (the 1D being the Chief Justice)
Illinois
4D/3R
Louisiana
5D/2R
New Mexico
5D (oddly, the GOP never bothers to contest the races)
Pennsylvania
3D/3R (1 vacant)
Texas
9R
West Virginia
4D/1R
Maryland
(I couldn’t find affiliations but for 3 members, all Dems, 3 others had none and 1 was vacant)
- Non-partisan election (which ain’t quite so)
Arkansas
Identified 2 partisan Dems, the 5 others I couldn’t, but don’t believe any Republicans
Georgia
6D/1R (1st Republican wasn’t seated until 2005, first since Reconstruction)
Idaho
4R/1D
Kentucky
3R (including the Chief)/2D/1 I couldn’t identify and 1 vacant
Michigan
5R/2D
Minnesota
4R/2 Independents (Venturaites)/1DFL
Mississippi
6R/3D
Montana
4R/1D/2 Unknown
Nevada
5D/2R
North Carolina
4R/3D
North Dakota
4R/1D (the Chief Justice)
Ohio
(Odd, since I believe these are partisan, and known for being an all-GOP court (7), but not all Conservative)
Oregon
4D/3 Non-Partisan (no Republicans identified)
South Dakota
5R
Washington
4D/3 Non-Partisan/2R
Wisconsin
5R/2D (although is really 3 liberal as 1 R is a lib RINO/4 Conservative)
- Election by the state legislature
Connecticut
Basically chosen by the Governor, 3 Republicans/3 Weickerite Indys/1D
Rhode Island
3 Non-Partisans/1D/1R
South Carolina
(And this is astonishing) 4D/1 Non-Partisan and NO Republicans
Vermont
3D/2R (including the Chief Justice)
Virginia
4D/3R
- Appointment by the Governor
Delaware
3D/2R
Hawaii
4D/1R
Maine
7D
Massachusetts
3D/3R/1 Vacant (1 R is the Chief Justice, an ultraliberal Weldite)
New Hampshire
4D/1R
New Jersey
4D/2R/1I (astonishingly, the 2 R’s were appointed by McGreevey and Corzine, 1 D & 1I were appointed by worthless Whitman !)
New York (the Supreme Court here is a lower court, it is called the NY Court of Appeals, a bit confusing)
4R/3D
- The Missouri Plan (supposedly non-partisan, but as it turns out, not always so)
Alaska
3D/2R
Arizona
3D/2R
California
6R/1D (believe it or not)
Colorado
5D/2R
Indiana
3D/2R (including the Chief)
Iowa
4D/3R (including the Chief)
Kansas
4R/3D
Missouri
5D/2R
Nebraska
Could only identify the Chief as a Republican, the other 6 members couldn’t determine affiliation
Oklahoma
7D/2R (including the Chief)
Utah
4R/1D (1D is the Chief)
Wyoming
(Apparently) 4R/1D
- Modified Missouri Plan
Florida — The Florida Judicial Nominating Commissions
5D/2R (was 7D during the 2000 decision)
Tennessee — The Tennessee Plan (recently proven to be unconstitutional — we may finally get a partisan election)
3D/2R (including the Chief Justice, and how they got on the bench are stories themselves, the most recent appointee is an “R” appointed by Bredesen because he was mad the liberal selection committee wouldn’t give him a Black nominee he wanted)
I’ll even throw in Guam:
1D/1R/1 Vacant
Puerto Rico:
3 Pop Dems/2 New Progs/2 Vacant
Virgin Islands:
3D