On Elected Judges
A democracy is defined as the rule of the majority with respect tominority rights. The last bit is vitally important to avoid a simple tyranny of the majority, and the rights of minorities are protected by completely separating political power from judiciary power.
This separation is lost when judges are elected; in order to ensure re-election, a judge must, by necessity, make ``popular'' decisions. Often, popular decisions are not just decisions, yet there are political movements beginning which hint at the insanity of elected judges.
In fact, Stockwell Day proudly claims to be ``one of the leading opponents to judge-made law''. No criminal judge makes law; they merely interpret it and attempt to do this interpreting in order to serve justice and the intent of the law, not the whims of the most popular political thoughts of the moment.
Relating to elected judges are ``mandatory minimums'' or legislated minimum punishments for certain crimes. These remove the power of a judge to make sentencing decisions based on the merits of the particular case in question. Law is never black and white, yet that is exactly what politically regulated sentencing means.
Elected judges and mandatory minimums erode the power of the judicial system to do its job: administer justice (not simply punish).