A Dayton Daily News editorial

Big-money contributions with a corrosive, if not corrupting, influence. Nasty campaign tactics with slick, sound-bite ads that mislead.

Ohio's judicial elections aren't immune to such things. Indeed, races for judgeships are often run on the same low road as other political campaigns.

Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer aims to change that. Last week he announced a sweeping plan for judicial campaign reform.

The Moyer plan is grounded in proven principles. Only an impartial and independent judiciary can preserve and promote democratic government and individual freedoms. Ohio's elective system often compromises that impartiality and independence — in appearance, if not in fact. Here's the proposed framework for reform:

• Broaden campaign-finance reporting. Supreme Court campaigns have been polluted by bundles spent on so-called independent issues campaigns. Most often, the goal has not been to honestly educate but to defeat certain candidates through hatchet jobs.

The Moyer plan endorses a comprehensive approach to disclosing the funding for such campaigns, one that's promoted by the Ohio League of Women Voters.

• Increase the frequency of reporting about financial backers. Voters should know in a timely manner who is contributing to which judicial candidates and in what amount. The Moyer plan would require that contributions greater than $200 be electronically reported within two days of receipt.

• Lengthen terms of judicial office. Ohio balances judicial independence with political choice by requiring judges to run for re-election every six years. These terms are shorter than most states' and independence is undermined in Ohio by the money-driven nature of judicial races, especially for Supreme Court seats. The Moyer plan suggests a better balance, lengthening judges' terms to at least eight years.

• Review candidates' qualifications. Judicial candidates' qualifications are not widely known or understood. The Moyer plan recommends that Ohio adopt American Bar Association standards for judicial candidates. Under that process, candidates would submit their qualifications to a broad-based committee that would evaluate and rate candidates' character, legal knowledge and experience.

• Increase practice requirements. To be a judge in Ohio, lawyers need only six years of experience as attorneys. The Moyer plan would increase that requirement to 10 years for trial court judges and more than 10 years for appellate judges.

• Consider publicly funded campaigns. An obvious way to eliminate money's degrading influence on judges would be to publicly fund campaigns. The Moyer plan proposes looking at this idea.

The Moyer plan makes good sense in all its aspects. The plan's adoption would strengthen the state's judiciary and public confidence in its integrity. It deserves vigorous support by Ohio's political leadership and practicing lawyers.

[From the Dayton Daily News: 05.23.2002]

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