What are the pros and cons of elected judges?

The
majority of U.S. states incorporate some form of judicial election via partisan contested
elections, non-partisan contested elections, or retention elections. Each of these types of
election of judges presents advantages and disadvantages over a pure judicial appointment
system. 

The primary advantage of having some form of election in the
selection and/or the retention of judges is that such systems provide a community with a voice
regarding the judges who sit in that community. In some systems, this includes community
selection of judges via contested election, and in others it only involves community retention
of appointed judges. In either type of system, contested election or retention election, if a
judge is a problem, the community has a mechanism for removing that judge. Conversely, in an
appointment system, removal of a judge often requires specific kinds of wrongdoing on the
judge's part and action by one or both of the other branches of government in the
state.

Another...