Why are potential Commission members chosen randomly?
To decrease partisan influence. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court randomly chooses 24 retired judges to sit in a pool that is eligible for appointment to the Commission. This is a level of separation — a buffer, if you will — that helps decrease the chance that specific judges will be appointed to the bench (or not appointed) based on their party affiliation. It is there to help make sure that retired judges being on the Commission doesn’t encourage the General Assembly to politicize the judicial appointment process from the start.
