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Merit selection as a means of choosing Marion County judges is being considered by the Indiana General Assembly, and opponents of House Bill 1036 fear its passage will lead to a less-diverse bench in the state’s most populous county. If the measure passes, Marion County would join Allen, Lake, and St. Joseph counties as the only ones in Indiana to appoint judges rather than elect them. Professor Joel Schumm, ’98, discussed the issue in a news story published in Indiana Lawyer.

Merit selection proponents often argue that in populous counties, where voters are less likely to know the judges whom they are electing, having a panel of legal experts and lay people appoint people to the bench makes sense. To counter this argument, opponents of HB 1036 point to Hamilton County, which has surpassed St. Joseph in terms of population, and its system of electing judges.

“I think there is an issue there,” Professor Schumm said in the story. “I think if one were to bring that as a lawsuit, I think the state would have a challenge in explaining why Hamilton County could be different than the (other) most-populous counties in the state,” Schumm said. However, “That’s not a reason not to have merit selection in Marion County,” he continued, noting he believes merit selection should be used to choose judges in fast-growing Hamilton County as well.

Professor Schumm, a manga cum laude graduate of IU McKinney, is a clinical professor of law and Director of Experiential Learning. He also directs the IU McKinney Appellate Clinic, and the Judicial Externship Program.