Welcome
Welcome to Better Courts for Missouri. We are a coalition of Missourians from all walks of life, dedicated to fixing the method by which Missouri judges are selected. The judges on our highest courts make decisions that profoundly affect every Missourian. Everything from jobs and wages to health care and family values are affected by the powerful judges on those courts. That is why we are dedicated to ensuring that openness, accountability, independence, and excellence are represented in the Missouri Court Plan for selecting judges.

Recent Posts
Sign Our Petition: Send a Message
9/22/2008

Please sign your name to this petition and pass it along to other Missourians.

Let our leaders know you do not support the lawyer-dominated Missouri Plan's secrecy and lack of accountability.

The Plight of a "Merit Selection" Plan
8/26/2008

This past Saturday, the Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial (which can be found here) in response to many comments that had been received regarding the American Bar Association’s recent decision to endorse the expanded use of “merit selection” plans in states and a similar plan to be used at the national level. In this editorial, they pointed to the difficulties that Missouri’s supposed “merit” plan has caused, specifically that lawyers have used the lack of public accountability for the Appellate Judicial Commission to force the Governor to choose a judge of their choice.

Not only have trial attorneys abused the system to force judges into the Missouri Supreme Court, they have used the “non-partisan” and “merit-oriented” nature of the system (as it was originally envisioned) as a shield every time they have been attacked for their actions and every time that the people call for reform. What these attorneys won’t admit is that the Missouri Plan is no longer non-partisan and it is no longer a system for choosing judges by merit. Trial attorneys ruined that long ago when they began to use the system for their own personal gain and to advance their own political agenda.

Missouri needs reform. The Missouri Plan doesn’t work, and a national version of a “merit selection” plan would only expand the corruption that already exists. The people of this state deserve a transparent process with some measure of accountability for bad decisions or corrupt actions in order to keep trial attorneys and interest groups from hand-picking judges behind citizens’ backs. We need a judiciary we can have confidence in, one that knows when to call a ball and when to call a strike.

WRITE YOUR LEGISLATOR
4/3/2008

The time to make important improvements to the Missouri Plan for selecting judges is NOW. Please Get Involved and restore checks and balances in Missouri.

Go here to sign our simple online petition.

And be sure to use this handy form to send your legislators a letter.

Better Courts for Missouri retains all of its posts.
View all posts.

Want to Learn More?
Please review our document library and become acquainted with the past and present of the Missouri Plan. Learn to separate fact from fiction about Missouri's Judicial Selection Process in our Fact and Fiction section. Most importantly, stay abreast of new developments in our fight to reform judicial selection by signing up for e-mail announcements or joining our efforts. This is your state and your justice system - they should be accountable to you.

Make your voice heard.

Quote
"Reduced to the plainest terms, judges have no right to pick their successors or colleagues and lawyers have no right to pick their judges."

- Warren D. Welliver, Missouri Supreme Court Judge, 10/28/1985

Sign the Petition
Better Courts for Missouri needs your help in the fight to reform Missouri's judicial selection process. Sign the initiative petition to let our legislators know that now is the time for judicial selection reform.

Yes! I want to sign
the petition today!

Get Involved
Better Courts for Missouri needs your help in the fight to reform Missouri's judicial selection process. Learn what you can do to aid in this critical grass roots campaign to better our court system.

Get Involved Today!