"That we should elect our Judges" Why?

Question

In Australia we don't elect our judges, they are chosen by the Governor General on behalf of the Queen.

Tomorrow night I am in a debate on the topic "That we should elect our Judges". We are on the affirmative side. Its the finals so we need some good arguments.

If anyone is from the USA or other countries that elect their judges, why do you do this? What are the benefits of electing your judges?

If you believe we should not elect our judges, tell me why and try and think of a way to rebut this.

We need all the help we can get :S

Thanks all.

Answer 1

I have an argument against that you may be able to work off of...

Judges should not be elected because they should be far removed from the political process. Judges are suppose to be neutral arbiters and making them go through an election cycle takes that neutrality away.

They may make promises of how they will rule on any given case, which is against the judicial code of ethics almost everywhere.

The only real plus side is that the people will know who they are electing to the bench, and judges will be publicly vetted.  

Answer 2

In the US some Judges are elected and some are appointed

I do not think there is one answer that is good - I do think the people shoudl have the right to remove a judge  

Answer 3

Judges affect the citizens life more then any other branch of government.  How they sentence, harsh or lenient, who they lock up for the publics safety or who they release, How bail is set for minorities vs whites, If he lets old buddies off with a love tap the cases he favors, how they treat corruption etc. With  appointed judges the community has no voice in the Judicial but if a judge knows he can be voted out of office he tends to be more respectful of the community.