There is much controversy over the new Texas Business Courts that will open in September 2024, but detractors are motivated by a desire to avoid what they fear is the creeping in of a merit selection system for appointment of judges. The limited-jurisdiction business court judges will be appointed by the governor for two-year terms. Those judges should have expertise in complex business cases.
When the system is shown to be effective in those cases, public opinion and the legislature may well be inclined to offer a constitutional amendment to create a new statewide system for "Merit Selection and Retention Vote" of all Texas judges. This has been successful in many states, most prominently in Missouri. That system is effective to select judges who have the skills, knowledge, and temperament to take politics out of the job of judging and still allow the people to vote on whether the judges should be retained for additional terms. That system works. The current Texas system of political, partisan election of judges is a "shot in the dark" for the voters.
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