Lo and behold, after another high court race marked by an ignoble tenor echoing last year’s contest, we would again like to call for reform of the current selection system for Wisconsin Supreme Court justices.

Of course, we are not alone in desiring change. Newspapers across the state — most aggressively the Wisconsin State Journal — have been calling for reform for some time now. Most of these publications have the right intentions, but too few of them have the right solution.

While the State Journal, for example, has been calling for a merit system that relies on the objectivity of an appointed committee, we would instead like to see a system mirroring the selection and confirmation process for the federal bench. As a hallmark of the system of checks and balances, the governor should be free to nominate an individual he or she views as worthy, and the Legislature should be free to accept or deny that nomination.

It is paramount that the foremost protectors of state law are beholden only to the law, not the political whims of the moment. This is a fundamental principle of the American judicial branch. In light of the latest in a series of misguided Supreme Court races, we urge the state Legislature to consider reform to the selection procedure that would mirror the federal process.