Papers in session one address the origins and development of judicial elections in California and review the contributions of Chief Justice Donald Wright (California State Supreme Court), who served as chief justice from 1970 to 1977. Chief Justice Wright is portrayed as a model of judicial independence. Papers in the second session consider standards for judicial retention elections in California and standards for assessing judicial performance. One presenter proposes a competency standard for evaluating judges in retention elections. This would require that judges conform to accepted standards of judicial conduct as promulgated in the cannons of judicial ethics. Papers presented in the third session consider media coverage of judicial elections and the nature and impact of judicial campaign financing in relation to judicial independence. Expert comments are provided for the papers presented in each session, and the appendixes contain the full written text of each symposium paper.