COLUMBUS - The state’s top judges should be appointed, not elected, according to the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme court.

Merit selection of appeals court judges and Supreme Court justices would end political attacks like the ad campaigns in just-concluded races for two high court seats, said Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer.

Moyer told a gathering of lawyers and judges that "allegations intentionally meant to distort" threaten the independence of the judiciary.

It was the first time Moyer commented publicly on the commercials.

“There’s no way the chief justice can get involved in picking and choosing which ads go over the mark,” Moyer said.

The attacks against Justice Alice Robie Resnick were particularly vicious, although they did not stop voters from electing her to a third term on Tuesday. The ads implied Resnick’s votes were influenced by campaign contributions from trial lawyers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an arm of its Ohio affiliate, who were seeking a more business-friendly court, spent up to $5 million on the ads.

Resnick was part of a 4-3 court majority that rejected a law limiting how much injured Ohioans could be awarded, and she wrote the majority opinion when the court found that the state’s method of funding schools is unconstitutional.

Moyer noted that Ohio is one of 21 states that elect appellate judges. He said some states appoint judges for terms of 10 years or more and some hold retention elections to decide if an appointed judge should remain in office.

“We have a lot of work to do to convince people there is a need to change,” Moyer said. “There will be resistance, but we went through a terrible experience.”

Ohio was the first state to formally consider selecting judges on the basis of merit in 1938, a proposal defeated by a 2-1 margin.

The issue arose in 1979, too, but legislators refused to put it on the ballot.

Voters soundly defeated a ballot issue in 1987, supported by Moyer because he said voters often were not well informed about judicial candidates. That issue would have created a nonpartisan nominating commission to recommend three names to the governor when a vacancy arose on the Supreme Court or Ohio Court of Appeals.

Resistance remains strong in some circles.

“If the people of Ohio voted it down, we need to respect that,” said Kena Hudson, spokeswoman for the Ohio Democratic Party. “Ohioans are smart enough to decide for themselves who they want on the Supreme Court.”

Paul Tipps, chairman of the Ohio Democrats from 1975 to 1983, said the issue of merit selection arose while his party controlled the high court.

“This is a new issue from the standpoint of concerns over re-ally vicious attacks on the Supreme Court,” said Tipps. “That might give it legs.”

Ohio Republican Party Chair-man Robert T. Bennett quickly embraced Moyer’s suggestion.

“We’ve started to treat judges like the other politicians, and that’s not good for anybody,” he said.

The chief justice also suggested yesterday that the court eliminate all judicial campaign spending limits, a reversal of its previous position.

Moyer said he would ask his six colleagues next week to drop an appeal of a recent ruling by a federal judge that judicial spending limits are unconstitutional.