Mary Jo McGuire tried to take away your right to vote for State Judges!

Mary Jo McGuire, a candidate in the upcoming special election in Minnesota SD66, who evidently feels she "owns Saint Paul" since she isn't even campaigning, introduced H.F. No. 1077 , in the 80th Legislative Session (1997-1998).  She  wants to take away your right to elect our Judges.

McGuire was Chief Author in 1997 of HF 1077 which  Proposed  a Constitutional Amendment Requiring that ALL Minnesota Judges To Be APPOINTED by the Governor!

Here are some of the reasons this would be very bad for the people of Saint Paul and Minnesota;

The only way to correct malfeasance in office for judge's is through our election process.  Even with calls such as: State ethics panel calls for judge's suspension

The rare recommendation is for Judge Timothy Blakely, who sent business to a divorce lawyer and got a $63,503 discount.
Led by former Supreme Court Justice Edward Stringer, the panel found “clear and convincing evidence” that Blakely violated judicial rules and codes by accepting a $63,503 markdown on his $108,876 divorce after appointing his attorney many times as a mediator in cases he oversaw.

The high court in September 2009 only censured Blakely for six months without pay. We, the people, removed him through elections in 2010.  Without free elections, he would still be there!

There are a number of other "Real Life examples of judicial abuses"

We want competitive elections for judges so that we the people have accountability.  If the judges are appointed, they have no accountability.  Greg Wersal is also a strong advocate of Minnesota's free election for judge's [link]:

Minnesota Supreme Court candidate Greg Wersal is out to stop what he sees as a serialized chain of appointments and resignations that have robbed Minnesotans of their constitutional right to elect judges.

And if the unaccountability isn't enough to worry about, enter George Soros, who is spending millions to try to stop election of Judges.  Ed Lasky of American Thinker wrote on September 11, 2010 about "Soros' latest gambit"

George Soros,..., funder of influential think tanks (such as the omnipresent Center for American Progress, a group that has become a media mouthpiece), and the grand champion funder of 527 groups nationwide (such as MoveOn.org) has been funding the takeover of one more branch of government: states' judiciary, according to this Washington Post:

"...Colleen Pero, a Michigan judicial activist who wrote Thursday's report, said she combed through tax records from Soros's foundations to identify more than $45 million given within the past decade to advocacy groups dealing with judicial issues."

In the Washington Examiner [link]

Soros' millions are funding Justice at Stake, whose explicit goal is to do away with the election of state judges. JAS wants a "merit system" that would empower "nonpartisan" panels selected by state officials to make judicial appointments.
...
Of course, if you're worried about special interests dominating judicial elections, the OSI/JAS alternative is even worse. That's because state bar associations and legal groups are dominated by trial lawyers. Lawyers and law firms are the seventh biggest political donors of "all time," according to Opensecrets.org, and dominate state politics in parts of the country.

The judicial system should maintain a necessary degree of impartiality, but America's founders certainly didn't intend for judges to be unmoored from democracy. About 95 percent of America's civil disputes end up in state courts. That's an enormous amount of power, which needs checks and balances. There's a reason why 87 percent of America's judges are elected.

The basic message here is, if you are concerned about our judicial system, and want to keep it close to the people, fee of corruption, and out of the hands of special interest elitists, you need to elect Greg Copeland to SD66!