Judicial politics: making the case for merit selection.(Issues Facing the Judiciary)

I am delighted to be here. If you will bear with me indulge me just a little bit of a personal reflection. Prior to coming to CUNY Law seminary I was the Executive Director of The capital for Modern Courts, a court reform, non-partisan, statewide organization. (1) About five years ago, we were trying to figure on the outside how to honor the memory of a former justice of the Court of Appeals, Hugh Jone (2) A cluster of us got together and thought: "Well, Hugh Jone was a real intellectual, in many ways a giant of the Court of Appeals--maybe we should create a prelection series with judges ...