If New York lawmakers decide to move forward with proposing changes to the process by which judges are selected to the state's highest court, there's a wealth of other models, a scholar who monitors U.S. high courts said.

In all, there are about two dozen judicial selection models for courts of last resort, most of which mirror a variation of New York's appointive process through a nominating commission, said Bill Raftery, a senior analyst with the National Center for State Courts.