Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Action Fund

MO Merit Defenders Declare Victory

Critics of Missouri’s nationally recognized merit system for selecting judges have failed to get enough valid signatures to put the issue before voters this fall.

Not my fault if your petition drive failed

The “Buck Stops Here” Award (not) goes to James Harris, executive director of ShowMe Better Courts, for his reaction to the news that his group’s effort to select judges through partisan elections had failed to gain enough valid signatures. “We are very disappointed that Lincoln Strategies failed to collect the requisite number of signatures, but we will continue moving forward and will resubmit the petition in November,” Harris said in a written statement. Lincoln Strategy Group is the Arizona firm which Harris hired to gather the requisite number of signatures. It’s not too hard to imagine Harry Truman ruefully shaking his head.

Roy Blunt sides with effort to change Missouri’s judicial-selection system

U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Springfield, is apparently aligning his U.S. Senate bid with the initiative-petition effort to revamp how Missouri selects its judges in the urban areas and on the higher courts, by requiring that they be elected, not appointed.

Missouri Bar will protect judicial integrity

Op-Ed by Skip Walther | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Regarding “Missouri’s judicial selection process is in need of reform” (June 1): The Missouri Bar Board of Governors disagrees strongly with James Harris’ dismal and misinformed assessment of Missouri’s court…

Is the showdown on Missouri judges over already?

Might the Show-Me justice showdown be over before it even gets started? Not sure, but opponents of the drive to force a statewide vote on Missouri's judicial selection process say their analysis shows that vote isn't going to happen.

UPDATE: Group says Missouri court critics missed signature target

Opponents of an attempt to require partisan elections for all Missouri judges said Tuesday that their analysis shows too few signatures were submitted to put the idea before voters.

BREAKING: Missourians apparently reject proposal to inject partisanship and politics into Missouri courts

Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Action Fund today announced that according to an analysis of signatures submitted to the Secretary of State by ShowMe Better Courts, a group proposing a constitutional amendment to dismantle Missouri’s Non-Partisan Court plan, it appears that insufficient signatures were collected to qualify the amendment and send it to the voters. The review predicts that ShowMe Better Courts fell short of the signature requirement in at least six of nine Congressional Districts.

Opponents: Signatures for anti-Missouri Plan initiative fall short

An analysis of the signatures submitted to the Secretary of State’s office by the group seeking to make all judges in Missouri elected fell short of statutory minimums, says a group opposing the effort.

Take Justice Off the Ballot

Although our attention as a nation is focused on the selection of a new justice to the Supreme Court, another judicial process that is also extremely important is happening across the country: the selection of state court judges. But in too many states, citizens are being shortchanged by the way these judges are chosen.

Is Justice for Sale in Missouri?

It now appears that we will have a chance to vote on that question in November. After receiving $675,000 from two Missouri businessmen-David Humphreys and Stan Herzog-and $975,000 in secret donations, James Harris and Show Me Better Courts filed signature petitions with the secretary of state to place an initiative measure on the ballot in November that would end the Missouri Plan in favor of partisan judicial elections statewide.