Judicial appointment/election debate coming to a head next month

Judicial appointment/election debate coming to a head next month

Impartial courts are the cornerstone of our democracy. We depend on our judges to treat everyone fairly and without bias. But according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan at NYU School of Law, Americans are increasingly concerned about the influence of politics and money on the courts. Three in every four Americans believe campaign cash affects courtroom decisions.

With the amount of money spent in recent high court races in our state, the Arkansas Bar Association is now considering a proposed constitutional amendment to have our justices appointed rather than elected.

Currently Arkansas State Supreme Court Justices are elected in a non-partisan race to serve an 8 year term.

The amendment would create a nine-person Judicial Nominating Commission, with members appointed by the governor, legislators, the state Supreme Court and the bar association.

The commission would propose three candidates for each seat. The governor would make the final choice.

The plan will go before the lawyers' governing group on Dec. 16 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's W.H. Bowen School of Law.

There are good arguments on either side of this debate. While many have good intentions of keeping dark money out of our judicial system, supporters of judicial elections say the judiciary deserves independence from the other two branches. And those who support judicial elections argue , that in a democratic society, government officials who wield this amount of power should be chosen by—and answerable to—the electorate.

For state high courts (which are called supreme courts in 48 states) a total of 38 states have some type of judicial elections. Seven states have partisan elections. Fourteen states including Arkansas have non-partisan elections.

And 17 states have uncontested retention elections after initial appointment. The remaining 12 states grant life tenure or use a form of reappointment.

Even if you personally have not been involved in case that made it to our state supreme court, you have in some way been impacted by their decisions. Our current method of funding education is based entirely on a decision by our highest court.

We will be watching this debate closely.

From State Representative Deborah Ferguson