The Pennsylvania juvenile court corruption scandal

The Economist recently published an article "The lowest of the low," exposing a corruption scandal in the Pennsylvania juvenile court. My friend TL blogged about it. Here is my comment:

This case shocks the conscience. I think this level of judicial corruption is extremely rare in this country.

The juvenile court is obviously governed by a separate body of law that I know little about, so can't say much.

I'd recommend reading the AP news release "Pa. judges accused of jailing kids for cash," just for a plain account of what happened.

The Economist article seems to highlight the fact that the judges were elected ("Another blow against elected judges," "Both judges were elected, not appointed"). Are judges normally appointed or elected in this country? In the federal judiciary, judges are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. But when it comes to the states, it's complicated and I don't have a good answer.

Currently in New York, the seven judges of the state's highest court (called the "Court of Appeals") are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. So it parallels the federal judiciary. Most recently, in January Gov. David A. Paterson nominated Justice Jonathan Lippman to be the chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. However, up until 1974 (wiki) some judges in the NY Court of Appeals were elected.

Pennsylvania is different: "The Pennsylvania Supreme court consists of seven justices each elected to ten year terms. Supreme court judicial candidates may run on party tickets. The justice with the longest continuous service on the supreme court automatically becomes Chief Justice." (wiki).

Each state has its own Constitution, which among other things creates the state's judicial system. Without further research, all I can say is--it is complicated.