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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Ind. Courts - "State court retirement opens door for diversity: Boehm's departure gives governor chance to consider a woman"

From a lengthy story today by Jon Murray in the Indianapolis Star:

The announced retirement of Indiana Supreme Court Justice Theodore Boehm will give Gov. Mitch Daniels the opportunity not only to shift the court's political balance, but also to bring an element of diversity that some say is much needed:

Indiana's high court is one of only two in the nation without a female justice.
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Several people, including Boehm, say they hope Daniels will consider the importance of adding gender diversity, which they consider key to ensuring the court's fairness in its rulings.

"It's about diversity of thought," said Myra Selby, Indiana's only female justice, who served from 1995 to 1999 as an appointee of Gov. Evan Bayh. "There will be another woman on the Indiana Supreme Court. I believe it's important."

Indiana and Idaho are the only states without sitting female justices on their supreme courts, according to the National Center for State Courts.

Beyond any opportunity to bring diversity to the high court, Boehm's retirement, announced Tuesday, will provide the first opportunity for a Republican governor to select a jurist in nearly 25 years -- since 1986.

That will guarantee a shift in the five-member court's political balance to the Republicans' favor, but experts expect minor impact on hot-button issues.

"It's so uncommon that you get a 3-2 decision that divides Republicans and Democrats on that court," said Joel Schumm, a professor at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis and, earlier in his career, a law clerk to Boehm.

"I don't think you're going to see any change at all." * * *

Selby said she enjoyed serving alongside Boehm, appreciating his quiet demeanor, sense of humor and love for baseball, which he shared with his colleagues.

"One of Ted's great gifts is his ability to think and consider widely, broadly," said Selby, a partner at Ice Miller in Indianapolis. "That's one of the things I quickly appreciated about him when he joined the court. It's a rare quality in people. He will be sorely missed."

Relevant recent ILB entries. At the end of this May 13, 2010 ILB entry, headed "State Supreme Courts Have Many Judges Outside the 'Judicial Monastery'," relating to the Kagan nomination to the SCOTUS, the ILB wrote:
Indiana, as the ILB has noted many times, has no female justices. Of our current five justices, three, I believe, had no previous judicial experience: Justices Boehm, Sullivan and Dickson.
Here are the ILB entries yesterday on the Boehm resignation and its implcations:

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 26, 2010 07:57 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Vacancy on Supreme Ct