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Sunday, September 07, 2008

Ind. Courts - "St. Joseph County lawyers set out to judge judges"

Jeff Parrott of the South Bend Tribune reports today in a lengthy story:

If you step up to the ballot box Nov. 4 and aren't familiar with the local judges up for a "yes" or "no" retention vote, that's probably a good thing for you.

It means you likely haven't been charged with any crimes, been sued by anybody or had the need to sue anybody, or witnessed any crimes or alleged violations of civil laws.

Still, the St. Joseph County Bar Association wants you to know more about the county's Superior Court judges before voting whether to keep them on the bench.

For the first time in 18 years, the county bar is asking its roughly 500 member attorneys to evaluate judges' job performance. The group e-mailed surveys to attorneys last week and hopes to publicize the results by early October, said Joe Fullenkamp, a Barnes & Thornburg attorney and co-chair of the bar's judicial evaluation committee.

Fullenkamp said the idea of attorneys evaluating judges has come up repeatedly since the last time it was tried locally in 1990, but it had not materialized because of the expense and complications involved.

But the initiative received a boost two years ago in the wake of a Tribune series, "Judging the Judges," which noted the difficulty nonlawyers have in ascertaining whether judges are doing their jobs well, Fullenkamp said.

In 90 of Indiana's 92 counties, judges are popularly elected in partisan campaigns, like any other politicians. But in Lake and St. Joseph counties, judges are chosen under a "merit selection" system. They are appointed by the governor, and voters every six years decide whether to retain them.

Later in the story:
State Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, has tried repeatedly to change the law to require popular election of St. Joseph County Superior Court judges. A bill he sponsored in this year's session died in committee. Later in the session, in a move supported by St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak, Fry tried again to change the system, this time through an amendment to a bill on judge's pensions.

That amendment also failed. But in conference committee, Fry did succeed in enacting language requiring the legislature's Commission on Courts to study how St. Joseph County selects its judges. The commission was to file a final report, including any recommendations for legislation, to the Legislative Council by Nov. 1.

The commission is scheduled to take up the matter at its next meeting Oct. 3.

Here is the agenda for that meeting.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 7, 2008 10:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts