Indiana Chief Justice Responds to Indiana Right to Life Fair Courts E-lert
Date of E-Lert – 10/15/08
Bibliographic Info:
In a letter
responding to Indiana Right to Life's letter
and questionnaire requesting "feedback on candidate positions on issues of
concern" to its constituency, Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard declined
to respond to the questionnaire, stating that doing so would be "incompatible
with serving as a fair and impartial decider of disputes." Distinguishing his role from that of other
government officials, Chief Justice Shepard states that judges "should not
pledge, promise or commit ahead of time to rule a particular way on a case
because that is inconsistent with the role of a judge."
Additionally, the National Ad
Hoc Advisory Committee on Judicial Campaign Conduct has issued a revised memorandum of advice to
candidates on how to respond to questionnaires.
