NC Judicial Terms Shortening?

Partisan battling over North Carolina's methods of judicial selection enters a new phrase. Currently, judges of the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals serve eight-year terms, while North Carolina District Court judges currently serve four-year terms. Republican committee chairs of the North Carolina legislature proposed a constitutional amendment reducing terms for all judges to two years and ending sitting judges’ terms in 2018.  This is opposed by the Progressive Pulse.

US Senate to End "Blue Slips" Blocking Judicial Nominees?

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly said that a federal judicial nominee's home-state senators will no longer be able to use “blue slips” to deny a nominee a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and vote on confirmation.

Hat tip to law professor Rick Hasen who calls this a "a serious escalation in the judicial wars."

Proposal to End Elections of Illinois Appellate and Supreme Court Justices

Peter Alexander and George M. Vineyard argue for what they call "merit selection."

The abstract says:

"The authors’ thesis is that voters either are so uninformed or have been so misled about what Illinois appellate and supreme court justices do that the voters are not in the best position to select justices to the two reviewing courts. To support their analysis, the authors conducted a survey of Illinois registered voters to determine exactly what they know about the qualifications and job duties of Illinois' highest two courts."