We have taken on the self-appointed role of right-wing media critics from time-to-time (feel free to thank us later), and it probably annoys the crap out of many reporters. So we feel it is only fair to also praise the mainstream media when they put their platform to good use.
Such was the case with a recent report on 9News from Brandon Rittiman. He drew much needed attention to judges on this year’s ballot that are up for a retention vote and have been deemed unworthy of keeping their jobs. From the story:
9NEWS’ investigation found that since 1998 only three judges have lost their elections following a “do not retain” recommendation. One additional judge with a bad review chose to resign rather than face re-election.
On average, a judge deemed unfit to stay on the bench will win re-election in Colorado with 54 percent of the vote.
And here are the two bums to throw out come November:
The judicial performance panel voted against keeping two judges up for election this November: Sixteenth District Judge Michael Schiferl and Seventeenth District Judge Jill-Ellyn Straus.
To be fair, there is a group out there that has tried to shine light on judicial retention for years. However due to lack of funding and ineffective leadership its message has never taken off.
Most voters aren’t well informed when it comes to judicial retention votes, and the media bears much of that responsibility for completely and utterly ignoring that part of the ballot. So, kudos to 9News for giving the topic some airtime. They have more viewers than we could ever hope for, and their story could make a difference in the outcome.