According to the Charleston Daily Mail, "spontaneous debate broke out" in the West Virginia Senate today over whether judges should be appointed or elected, and, if elected, whether there should be a Clean Elections option (like the one in North Carolina) to allow judges to run without taking money from attorneys and other interested parties.

The West Virginia legislature has already been asked to consider a full public financing option for state and legislative races. Perhaps the recent news about West Virginia Chief Justice Eliot Maynard getting spotted on vacation with the head of a coal company he just decided in favor of in court is at least partly responsible for today's "spontaneous" consideration of this issue.