[fiscally_right]

The point of the judiciary is to be a check on the other branches of government.. If the supreme court was elected in the same way as the other branches, it would lose that power. The judiciary exists because there needs to be a branch that is free from the corruptive influences that political pandering and lobbying and campaigning bring. The injustice done by the Judiciary being too powerful would be dwarfed by the injustice of weakening it.

[RobbyS]

The Court's power is not presently checked by the other branches. We have got to the point where a single state court can overturn hundreds of years of settled law. As for elections, judges were chosen in most states until the 20th Century, in line with the Republican theory that the laws should not be made by an unelected class.

[xzins]

You said, "The judiciary exists because there needs to be a branch that is free from the corruptive influences that political pandering and lobbying "

The point is that they are not free of political pandering, and that that is their legacy for a century and a half IF NOT LONGER.

Let's admit the mistake, and set about recognizing it as the political office it is.....AND ELECT the justices.

That way we can can the bad ones and only suffer under them for no more than 6 years (depending on the term enacted.)