Fair Courts E-lert: Fairer Ways to Choose Judges
1. According to James Alfini, a professor of law at South Texas College of Law and co-author of a book on judicial ethics, “[t]he problem of having judges run for office is that sometimes they cross a line in trying to get elected.” Alfin was quoted in a Bloomberg Business Week article about mailings distributed by the campaign of Texas state court Judge Trey Lofin. The mailings referenced Judge Lofin’s decision in a case, but because aspects of the case remain pending before Lofin, critics like Alfin argue that the campaign material may run afoul of state ethics rules. Lofin’s campaign maintains they carefully reviewed the information to ensure it was “appropriate.”
Mark Drajem, Texas Judge’s Campaign Says He’s Taken on the EPA, Bloomberg Business Week, May 24, 2012.
Judicial Misconduct
2. The Toledo Blade reports that last Monday, a special panel comprised of the president judges of all 12 district courts of appeals and the chief justice of the Court of Appeals Association of Ohio reviewed the judicial ethics violation charges against retired appellate Judge William M. O'Neill. Earlier this year, Judge O’Neil—who is challenging incumbent Justice Robert Cupp in November for his seat on the Ohio Supreme Court—was found by a three-judge panel to have violated the Judicial Code of Conduct by knowingly misrepresenting himself as a sitting judge in campaign advertising. According to the Blade, the lower panel ordered Judge O’Neil to stop circulating the campaign material in question, but did not recommend further punishment.
Jim Provance, High Court Candidate Faces Punishment Panel, Toledo Blade, May 22, 2012.
Judicial Reform
3. A New York Times editorial examined the proposed reforms for selecting supreme court justices in Michigan made recently by the bipartisan Judicial Selection Task Force. As the Times noted, “[t]he task force has recommended legislation to require all financing for campaign ads in Supreme Court races be disclosed and that the partisan nominating process be replaced by a nonpartisan system with open primaries.” Yet while the Times praised the task force’s attention to the negative effects increased judicial campaign spending can have on public confidence, the editorial concluded that “[an independent commission nominate justices based on merit] would have been the best way to end the profoundly harmful effect money has had on the Michigan court.”
Fairer Ways to Choose Judges, New York Times, May 22, 2012.
Public Financing
4. As a Democracy North Carolina blog post reports, “In the midst of Super PAC spending and candidates hustling big-dollar donors, here’s a positive story from North Carolina: Candidates are actually agreeing to accept strict campaign spending limits and to rely only on small donations and a public grant authorized by hundreds of registered voters!” According to the blog, all of the candidates this year for state supreme court and court of appeals have sought and qualified for public financing of their campaigns—the first time that all candidates running for statewide judicial election have done so since the public financing program was adopted.
LOD: Candidates Rewarded for Good, Democracy North Carolina, May 2012.
Judicial Appointments
5. An editorial in The Record criticizes the politicization of judicial confirmations in New Jersey, describing the process as “mired in political parry and thrust.” The editorial casts blame on both Republican Governor Christie for refusing to reappoint Supreme Court Justice John Wallace for ideological reasons two years ago—which angered Senate Democrats who retaliated by refusing to consider a nominee until Wallace would have reached the mandatory retirement age—and the state legislature for dismissing the governor’s current nominee, Bruce Harris, “before Harris has even been given the chance to speak.” Meanwhile, as Associated Press article notes that, if confirmed, Harris would be the sole openly-gay Justice, and the only black Justice on the state’s high court.
The Record: Fair Hearing, The Record, May 24, 2012; Black Lawmakers Oppose Christie NJ Court Pick, Associated Press, May 24, 2012.
Diversity on the Bench
6. Last week’s E-lert reported that the nomination of Tracy Thorne-Begland, an openly gay prosecutor, was rejected by the Virginia legislature. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, however, “because the GOP-controlled House rejected Thorne-Begland and did not fill the position, the six judges of Richmond's Circuit Court have the authority to decide whether to fill the judgeship” and they may select Thorne-Begland to fill the post on an interim basis. He would then be subject to approval by the legislature when it reconvenes in January, 2013.
Jim Nolan, Thorne-Begland Backed for Interim Judgeship, Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 22, 2012.
7. Members of civil rights and legal groups in Georgia have joined to protest the declining number of black judges on the Fulton County Superior Court, and to urge Governor Nathan Deal to nominate more diverse judges. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the percentage of African-American judges in Fulton County has declined almost 15 percent in the last decade. As Reverend Joseph Lowery, a representative of the Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda, noted, "[w]e are watching a disappearing number of African-American judges, which is not fair to the citizens of this community."
Bill Rankin, Groups Call for More Diversity on Fulton Bench, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 24, 2012.
8. The Charleston Gazette announced that Stephanie Dawn Thacker was sworn onto the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday, becoming “the first West Virginian woman to sit as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.” Judge Thacker filled the seat previously held by Judge Blane Michael, which has been vacant since his death last March. The Gazette also noted that with Judge Thacker on the bench, “the 4th Circuit will have 15 judges for the first time since 1990.
Zac Taylor, Thacker Sworn in as Federal Appeals Judge, Charleston Gazette, May 29, 2012.
Court Resources
9. Previous E-lerts have covered the dangers that continued cuts to state court budgets across the country pose to judicial independence and access to justice. A Los Angeles Times article today provides another glimpse at the troubles faced by California’s judiciary. According to the Times, a 300-page report commissioned by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye concludes that the California court system is “dysfunctional” and in need of a major overhaul, including staff cuts. The Brennan Center for Justice’s Legal Services E-lert has more information.
Maura Dolan, Agency That Runs California Courts 'Dysfunctional,' Report Says, LA Times, May 30, 2012.
