During the 1930s, the community became increasingly dissatisfied with the growing role of politics in judicial selection and judicial decision-making. Judges were inundated with outside pressure due to the political features of the electoral process, and dockets were overloaded due to judges' time spent campaigning. In November 1940, voters amended the Missouri Constitution adopting the plan for nonpartisan court selection of judges. This project was submitted to a vote by initiative petition. Acceptance of the plan by initiative referendum results from a public backlash against widespread abuse of the justice system by the Kansas City political machine and political control exercised by St. Louis neighborhood leaders (Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan , nd). The Missouri Plan is a judicial selection process used by some states in the United States. The Plan combines a nomination procedure with popular vote. Under the plan, a selection committee proposes the names of three candidates for the position to the state governor. If the governor selects one of the candidates within sixty days, that person is appointed to the bench for one year; otherwise, the committee proceeds with the selection and appointment. After a year, the judge is running unopposed in the next general election. If voters support their retention, then the judge will serve the number of years specified for that position in that state's constitution. If voters contest their retention, the selection process begins again. Initially, "twelve states used the Missouri Plan to fill appellate judicial vacancies: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. Tennessee, Florida and California...... middle of paper...... this would work better. Those who favor merit selection present it as a preferable option to the politics and fundraising inherent in judicial elections, while those who oppose it argue that the appointment process itself is political and that, in addition, citizens have the right to elect their judges. It seems that whatever plan is used to select judges, there are so many political and partisan elements that creep into the process. The question comes down to the extent to which politics and partisanship are pursued. It seems that the more politics and partisanship there is, the worse the results seem to be. The Missouri plan appears to limit the politics involved and is therefore the best plan available for selecting judges for the bench. This project should be adopted more widely in order to limit the prejudices which are obviously everywhere in the system today..