Panelist, «The Challenge of Judicial Reform — Case Studies from the States, Rethinking Strategies
for Judicial Selection Reform,» Cumberland Law School (February 24, 2006)
New Mexico uses a unique two - step process
for judicial selection.
In early 2014, Minnesota's Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, met with representatives of the state's minority bar associations (Black, Asian, Hispanic, women, and LGBTQ) and urged them to recruit a greater number of applicants
for judicial selection.
Eventually the panel system became the vehicle
for judicial selection, not only in reform clubs but for countywide seats as well.
Not exact matches
However, several amendments were diluted or rejected outright:
selection of
judicial candidates will likely continue to happen behind closed doors, the Brooklyn Democratic Party will continue to refuse to provide basic support
for Brooklynites looking to organize their own Democratic clubs, and unlimited power via the proxies of absent County Committee members remain in the hands of the Chair.
Too much of the state's election process
for judges revolves around raising money, said Dennis R. Hawkins, executive director of the Fund
for Modern Courts, a New York City - based group that favors reform of the
judicial selection process.
This made the
selection process difficult
for our
Judicial delegates, but the they selected Debra James, Anil Singh, and Peter Moulton.
The New York County screening panel process has ensured that only qualified candidates with the right
judicial philosophy are deemed appropriate
for selection, and this successful group will prove the panel proud.
Referencing other articles, CREW sees the potential
for cronyism in the
selection of a
judicial screening panel and the hiring practices of Empire State Development Corp..
Coleman will have to win approval from the
Judicial Selection Commission and then be nominated
for a judgeship by his fellow Democrat, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
During the
judicial primary elections September 12, Brooklyn Democratic voters seemed to base their
selections for Civil Court judge primarily on gender; immune, apparently, to an ongoing squabble over the process
for selecting the nominees, who are virtually guaranteed election in November given the borough's Democratic tilt.
Some states, like Colorado, [jokingly] describe their
judicial selection process as merit - based, but there is no basis
for that categorization.
Prior efforts gave similar powers to the Attorney General, but left the
selection of the judge to the Supreme Court «upon the recommendation of the Chief Administrative Judge
for that
judicial circuit.»
(39) On an application
for judicial review of the arbitrator's decision, no determination or
selection that the arbitrator was required to make under subsection (29) shall be overturned unless the determination or
selection was patently unreasonable.
Opponents of commission - based appointment of judges — also known as the Missouri Plan,
for the state in which the
judicial selection process originated — have obtained approval from the secretary of state
for two identically worded proposed constitutional amendments that would establish contested elections
for Missouri's appellate judges.
SB 305 of 2014 as pre-filed would change both the qualifications
for those offices as well as how the merit
selection commission (
Judicial Nominating Board) functions.
HB 4665 Requires candidates
for magistrates court to be screened by the
judicial merit
selection commission before they may be appointed by the governor by and with the consent of the senate
Vermont's constitution requires that
for judicial vacancies, the governor appoints «from a list of nominees presented by a
judicial nominating body established by the General Assembly having authority to apply reasonable standards of
selection.»
We advocate
for the O'Connor
Judicial Selection Plan, which includes four steps:
HB 420 (Constitutional Amendment) Requires the
judicial selection commission to publicly disclose its list of nominees
for appointment to the office of the chief justice, supreme court, intermediate appellate court, circuit courts, or district courts concurrently with its presentation of that list to the governor or the chief justice.
Billy Corriher is senior researcher at the Institute
for Southern Studies in Durham, North Carolina, where his work includes a focus on
judicial selection, voting rights, and the courts in North Carolina.
The proposed reform would amend Nevada law to provide
for the appointment of judges by the Governor from a list of candidates selected by the
Judicial Selection Commission, followed by retention elections whereby the electorate can choose to retain or remove those judges.
Week Ahead: More attempts to change
judicial selection in KS; expanding AZ Supreme Court; increasing the mandatory retirement age
for MD judges
They attack her
for her involvement in efforts to remove the grotesque amounts of money now flooding into
judicial elections — often from out - of - state corporate front groups - and supporting a Nevada voter initiative that would replace such a system with merit
selection of judges.
According to Judge Burke,
selection reform in Ohio is needed
for three reasons:
judicial elections may negatively impact public perceptions of...
Oklahoma Speaker puts forth
judicial agenda: keep merit
selection but change nominating commission, term limits but only
for Court of Civil Appeals, mandatory retirement age
for all appellate judges, several «placeholder» bills
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has long been an outspoken advocate
for appointed judges, forming an organization after her retirement to promote The O'Connor
Judicial Selection Plan.
All merit
selection systems
for judicial offices require that the commission that recommends names include a mix of lawyers and non-lawyers.
SB 2498 (Constitutional Amendment) Requires written notice of an appointment to the senate
for advice and consent concurrent with the governor,
judicial selection commission, or chief justice's making of the appointment.
SB 440 Amends or repeals approximately 70 statutes related to
Judicial Branch operations including matters such as the appointment, compensation, duties, and qualifications of
Judicial Branch personnel; the treatment of records, papers, and documents held by the
Judicial Branch; the powers, duties, and
selection of judges and justices; the delegation of certain roles and activities within the
Judicial Branch; and budgeting procedures
for district courts.
Trends to watch
for in 2014 session: merit
selection, retirement age,
judicial salaries, retirement systems, int» l / sharia law use by state courts
AJS is also in the process of finding new homes
for Judicature and AJS's internet accessible resource known as
Judicial Selection in the States.
Reddick is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of
judicial selection and
judicial performance evaluation and has conducted training programs
for members of
judicial nominating commissions around the country.
This is nothing new: the O'Connor
Judicial Selection Plan, which calls for commission - based appointment (or «merit selection») of judges, has been under attack in a number of states, and there seems to be a pattern to the
Selection Plan, which calls
for commission - based appointment (or «merit
selection») of judges, has been under attack in a number of states, and there seems to be a pattern to the
selection») of judges, has been under attack in a number of states, and there seems to be a pattern to the attacks.
Week ahead: retention elections
for NC appellate courts; Texas AG can get special 3 - judge courts to hear challenges to state laws; another TX interim study on
judicial selection; broadcasting TN Supreme Court hearings online; mandate veterans courts in every CA Superior Court; guns in IL courthouses but not courtrooms
While
judicial elections in which the governor nominates and the legislature approves candidates provides
for clearer accountability, they do nothing to remove the politics from
judicial selection.
The Brennan Center
for Justice at NYU School of Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, has monitored
judicial elections and other state court issues
for almost two decades and published an extensive report last year about merit
selection.
He is a past member of the Boston Bar Association Diversity Leadership Task Force, a past member of the US District Court Civil Justice Advisory Board, a past Chairman of the US District Court
for the District of Massachusetts Merit
Selection Panel and a past member of the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court's Working Group on Practicing with Professionalism.
Similarly, if engaged at the time of
judicial selection in a business activity, a new judge may, notwithstanding the prohibitions in Rule 3.11, continue in that activity
for a reasonable period but in no event longer than one year.
Contemporary
judicial selection concerns include the controversy over merit
selection of judges vs. the election of judges, the need
for judicial election reform, and the effect of the method of
judicial selection on the number of minorities and women seated on the bench.
[3] Judges may participate in the process of
judicial selection by cooperating with appointing authorities and screening committees, and by responding to inquiries from such entities concerning the professional qualifications of a person being considered
for judicial office.
He was also nominated and serves on the
Judicial Awards
Selection Committee
for the Dade County Bar Association.
Judges may participate in the process of
judicial selection by cooperating with appointing authorities and screening committees seeking names
for consideration and by responding to official inquiries concerning a person being considered
for a judgeship.
And perhaps our
judicial selection mechanism, which means that judges are recruited from the ranks of experienced litigators and legal academics, two professions which prize and help develop one's ability to articulate one's thinking, helps limit the risk that judges will give insincere but easy - to - state reasons
for their decisions.
When a vacancy occurs before the expiration of any term of office in the Supreme Court or the court of appeals or among the district judges, the Governor shall appoint a justice or judge from among three nominees selected
for such individual vacancy by the Commission on
Judicial Selection.
The Lex Machina Copyright Litigation Report breaks down the thousands of copyright cases filed in the last 5 years to showcase how this data can be used to inform litigation strategy: from detailed analysis of different
judicial districts useful to forum planning, to timing data on trial and injunctions that can drastically improve budgeting, as well as top parties and firms
for firm marketing and outside counsel
selection.
The General Assembly may provide by general law
for the
selection or appointment of special or emergency Superior Court Judges not selected
for a particular
judicial district.
Other proposals include: appointing an independent layperson, instead of a judge, to head the
selection panels
for the lord chief justice and the president of the Supreme Court; transferring the lord chancellor's
judicial appointment powers below either the High Court or the Court of Appeal to the lord chief justice; and restricting
judicial appointment commission involvement in selecting
judicial office holders who do not require a legal qualification.
On the theme of diversity in Canadian legal institutions (see Omar Ha Redeye's excellent piece in Slaw yesterday), in the UK the
Judicial Appointments Commission has just announced it will be running a selection exercise this summer by which it will recommend candidates for judicial appointments from «non-traditional» back
Judicial Appointments Commission has just announced it will be running a
selection exercise this summer by which it will recommend candidates
for judicial appointments from «non-traditional» back
judicial appointments from «non-traditional» backgrounds.
On Monday, December 19, 2016, the Colorado State
Judicial Branch announced the
selection of three finalists
for a vacancy on the Mesa County Court.