Opponents of Improving the Missouri Plan Argue that the "Missouri Plan" has been adopted all across the nation.

The Missouri Bar and its allies use word play to obfuscate the underlying facts.

The truth is that other states have merely copied “some form” of the Missouri Plan. There are many forms of "Missouri Plans," with varying degrees of accountability, throughout the United States. We do not support any plan that does not include “some form” of the current plan. Here are a few examples of states that have made improvements to the Missouri Plan:

• Delaware
  • Governor nominates, and the Senate approves
  • Governor has nine commissioners who serve at his pleasure
    • Four lawyers
    • Four non-lawyers
    • One Bar representative
  • Governor may reject the Appellate Judicial Commission’s nominees
• Florida
  • Governor appoints nine commissioners
    • Four lawyers, (three from the state Bar)
    • Five non-lawyers
  • Governor may reject the Appellate Judicial Commission’s nominees

At present, Missouri's form of the "Missouri Plan" is the LEAST accountable of all "Missouri Plans." That our judicial selection plan has been adopted in varying incarnations in other states is no reason not to reform a broken system. However, the Missouri Bar is opposed to ANY reform, including reform that would bring some of the improvements other states have made to the "Missouri Plan."