Brennan Center for Justice

STATE JUDICIAL SELECTION

Kansas Senate Confirms Court of Appeals Judge
After a long and controversial process, the Kansas State Senate has confirmed Caleb Stegall, Governor Sam Brownback’s nominee for the state Court of Appeals. In July, Kansas moved from a merit selection process for selecting Court of Appeals judges to a system where the Governor screens candidates who are subject to Senate confirmation. Whereas “Brownback said the old system wasn't fair because lawyers dominated the nominating commission and the Legislature had no input into the process,” the Lawrence Journal-World reports that critics of the new method believe it is shrouded in secrecy. Because Governor Brownback did not release the names of all of the candidates for the Court of Appeals vacancy, opponents argued they could not adequately evaluate Stegall without knowing which other individuals he was up against. There was also concern over the fact that Stegall was a top aid to the Governor. House Minority Leader Paul Davis (D) commented in an Associated Press article, “It doesn't instill confidence in the process when the governor picks his own lawyer.” Stegall was endorsed  by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and was confirmed by the full Senate on Wednesday with a 32-8 vote. “The vote mirrored the Senate's partisan makeup, with only Democrats voting against confirmation.”
Sources: Kelsey Ryan, Senate panel advances Court of Appeals nominee, The Wichita Eagle, September 4, 2013; Scott Rothschild, Notable Kansans weighing in against new appellate court selection process, Lawrence Journal-World, August 30, 2013; John Hanna, Analysis: Criticism of Brownback's court choice focused more on process than nominee's resume, Associated Press via The Republic, September 1, 2013; John Hanna, Kansas Senate confirms court appointment, Associated Press via The Hutchinson News Online, September 4, 2013.

Ohio Chief Justice Renews Call for Court Reform
Last week, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor renewed her call to reform Ohio’s courts, writes James Ewinger in the Ohio Plain Dealer. Speaking at a City Club of Cleveland meeting, Justice O’Connor reiterated “her call to remove partisanship from  judicial elections and get the public more involved,” by presenting eight questions to stimulate discussion. “We're not here to talk about merit selection,” she said at the City Club meeting, recognizing that 80 percent of Ohio voters prefer to elect their judges. During her talk, she “cited statistics that she said she got from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections that 40 percent of the people who voted in the 2012 general election here did not vote for any judicial candidates. O'Connor, who has been on the court since 2002, suggested that all judicial elections be conducted in odd-numbered years, separate from other local elections.” When asked about special interest groups, Justice O’Connor said they “cannot be removed from the political equation because when they become involved in a campaign, they are exercising free speech.”  Justice O’Connor first argued these points in an address to the Ohio State Bar Association in May. She also provided information on the website ohioppcourts2013.org and wrote a series of op-eds in The News-Herald.
Source: James Ewinger, Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor presses for court reforms, The Plain Dealer, August 30, 2013.

Survey Shows Oklahomans Prefer Electing Judges
A survey conducted last week by North Star Opinion Research indicated that Oklahoma voters would prefer to elect their appellate justices and judges, according to The Oklahoman. The survey of 500 registered Oklahoma voters “showed that 74 percent of those taking part in the poll preferred having the judges elected and 22 percent favored the [judicial nominating] commission.” Oklahoma judges are currently chosen through a merit selection system, in which an independent commission submits a list of nominees to the governor to fill judicial vacancies. After judges are appointed, they are subject to retention elections every six years. The survey, paid for by the Federalist Society, “was conducted June 17-19, or about two weeks after the Oklahoma Supreme Court tossed out a law favored by Republicans that dealt with how lawsuits are filed, or tort reform. The 2009 law, pushed by many in the business community and medical profession, was intended to reduce frivolous lawsuits and make the state more business-friendly, but it violated the state constitution's single-subject rule, the court ruled.” John Williams, executive director of the Oklahoma Bar Association, defended the state’s merit selection system, noting, “Our system has [been] shown to work very well. The current system replaced one of those political systems that did not work well. It had corruption and problems that the current system has not allowed.”
Source: Michael McNutt, Survey shows support for electing Oklahoma's appellate judges, justices, The Oklahoman, August 27, 2013.

PUBLIC FINANCING

Wisconsin Lawmakers Attempt to Bring Back the State’s Public Financing Program
Wisconsin lawmakers are attempting to bring back a modified version of the state’s short-lived judicial public financing program, which ran from May 2010 to June 2011, reports Gavel to Gavel. The original program was only open to Supreme Court candidates, but the new bill, AB 298, introduced on August 23^rd, would apply more broadly to “candidates seeking various partisan state offices except district attorney, plus the superintendent of public instruction and justices of the Supreme Court.” In addition, whereas the original program made specific funds available to Supreme Court candidates – $100,000 in primary elections and $300,000 in general elections – the new program would allow candidates to receive a certain percentage of whatever money was in the public financing fund for any given year. Two similar bills introduced in 2011 did not make it out of the Election and Campaign Reform Committee in the 2011-2012 legislative session. AB 298, however, has been assigned to the Joint Finance Committee.
Source: Bill Raftery, Wisconsin will once again try to bring back public financing for judicial races, Gavel to Gavel, September 3, 2013.