Progressive Arguments on Judicial Selection

The progressive Brennan Center has published Choosing State Judges: A Plan for Reform by
Alicia Bannon. It:

recommend[s] that states do away with state supreme court elections completely. Instead, justices should be appointed through a publicly accountable process conducted by an independent nominating commission. Furthermore, to genuinely preserve judicial independence, all justices should serve a single, lengthy term. No matter the mechanism by which they reach the bench, be it an election or an appointment by the governor or legislature, justices should be freed from wondering if their rulings will affect their job security. 

 I support this "single, lengthy term" view of judicial retention, but think much is lost in the Brennan Center's vague "A judge’s job is to apply the law fairly and protect our rights." This phrase can mislead people into believing that judges merely apply law made by someone else (constitution, statute) rather than make law, which judges have been doing for centuries in making the common law and in interpreting vague provisions of constitutions and statutes. The problem with advocating "an independent nominating commission" is hiding from the public the inevitable lawmaking function of judges (particularly state supreme court justices) and thus allowing powerful insiders (typically the bar) disproportionate power. Several states even go so far as allowing the bar to pick some members of the supposedly "independent" nominating commission. 

Arkansas Bar Ass'n Proposes Big Change to Arkansas Supreme Court Selection

The Arkansas Supreme Court is currently selected in non-partisan elections. "The Arkansas Bar Association is holding a series of public forums across the state to discuss and
receive comments on a proposed Arkansas Constitutional Amendment on an appointment process
for selection of Supreme Court Justices," according to a press release by the Bar Association.

The proposal recommends “a nine-member judicial nominating commission...be formed to accept applications, interview candidates and nominate three for each vacancy on the Supreme Court.”, according to the Brennan Center, which goes on to say: the governor “would then appoint one of those candidates to the court” for a single, non-renewable, 14-year term.

FWIW, I like the single, non-renewable, 14-year term as that helps judicial independence without going to the extreme of allowing a justice to remain on the state's high court for 20 or 30 years.