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Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Vacancy on Supreme Court 2012 - Justice David likely next Chief Justice
Very likely. Here are the reasons.
1. The next Chief Justice will be selected from the four current justices: Sullivan, Rucker, Dickson and David.
2. The selection body is the Judicial Nominating Commission.
3. Three lay members of the Commission are appointed by the Governor, for three-year staggered terms. The three attorney members are elected by the bar, and also serve three-year staggered terms. Current Chief Justice Shepard is the chair.
4. Politics has been said not to play a large part in the current Court's decisionmaking, but it does in the selection of justices. Governor Daniels has appointed the three current lay members. (One of them, Mike Gavin, is up for replacement by the Governor 12/31/11/) I don't know the politics of the three attorney members. And the Chief Justice was appointed by a republican, Governor Orr.
5. Mary Beth Schneider has quoted the Chief Justice as saying that he will help select the justice to replace him; but not the next Chief Justice. That may mean he will not vote on the selection by the Commission of the next Chief Justice, but will abstain, leaving the selection to the other six members.
6. Of course, not all four of the current justices may even apply for the chief justice position. For instance, Justice Dickson, the only one of the four other than Justice David who has been appointed by a republican governor (also Orr) would turn 75, the date a justice must retire, shortly before the end of a five-year term as Chief Justice.
7. If, as appears inevitable, the new Chief Justice is selected before the appointment by the Governor of a new fifth justice, there is no chance that the new appointee would be eligible to be Chief Justice at this time. But if, for instance, Justice Dickson were to be selected Chief Justice, and then stepped down from the position but not the Court in a few years, the possibility would open up.
8. Another point to keep in mind, Justice David is up for retention in November of 2012. Ordinarily the Court's retention elections have been uneventful, but that may not be the case in 2012.
[More on #5] Article 7, Sec. 9 of the Indiana Constitution provides in part:
The judicial nominating commission shall consist of seven members, a majority of whom shall form a quorum, one of whom shall be the Chief Justice of the State or a Justice of the Supreme Court whom he may designate, who shall act as chairman.I read this to mean that CJ Shepard could designate another member of the court to act as chairman in the vote for Chief Justice, with voting authority, eliminating the danger of a 3-3 tie. But who would this be? Surely not a candidate for the position ...
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 7, 2011 05:55 PM
Posted to Vacancy on Supreme Court 2012