« Courts - Still more on: Confrontation clause case re admissibility of crime lab report | Main | Ind. Courts - More on "Park ban on sex offenders challenged: Man can't watch son play baseball" »
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Ind. Courts - Legislative panel advises against electing judges
Jeff Parrott reports today in the South Bend Tribune in a story that begins:
A state legislative panel has recommended that St. Joseph County should continue having most of its judges selected by the governor instead of voters.Here is the website of the legislative Commission on Courts. Here is the final report - the committeee's findings and recommendations begin on p. 15 of the PDF version.The General Assembly's Commission on Courts recently voted 7-2 to recommend the county preserve its "merit selection" system for choosing Superior Court judges. Under that system, in place since 1973, a local group of lawyers and judges interviews judicial applicants for a judge vacancy, then sends a list of finalists to the governor, who makes the selection.
Voters can then vote "yes" or "no" every six years on whether to retain the judge.
Lake County is the only other county in Indiana that uses merit selection. The commission recommended that Lake County also keep the status quo.
At a hearing Oct. 3 in Indianapolis, the South Bend area's top legal officials spoke in favor of maintaining merit selection. They included Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan Jr., a South Bend native and chair of the St. Joseph County Judicial Nominating Commission; Judge Robert Miller Jr., chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Northern Indiana; St. Joseph County judges Michael Gotsch (who as a Circuit Court judge is popularly elected) and Michael Scopelitis; and county bar association leaders Carl Greci and Aladean DeRose.
They defended the system as the best way to keep judges free from political pressure, because sometimes judges must make rulings that are unpopular but legally sound.
Arguing that St. Joseph County judges should be more accountable to the public, state Rep. Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka, this year had pushed unsuccessfully to scrap merit selection. His efforts resulted in a bill ordering the commission to study the issue and advise the legislature on whether changes are needed.
As with any legislative summer study commission, the recommendation is not binding in any way.
Advocating for change at the hearing were state Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-Granger, a commission member, and Kathy Karczewski, mother of slain South Bend police officer Scott Severns.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 11, 2008 10:50 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts