Court Reform Makes ‘96 Ballot
Washington state voters will get an early chance to reform the state Supreme Court.
A constitutional amendment will be put on the November 1996 ballot to reduce the court’s size and change the way the chief justice is selected.
Justice Robert Utter has proposed decreasing the high court from nine members to seven - a savings of $550,000 a year.
In addition, the ballot measure would allow Supreme Court members to elect their chief justice to four-year terms.
Right now, chief justices are picked on a random basis for two-year terms.
New Justice Phil Talmadge, a former longtime state senator from Seattle, would not become chief justice for 18 years under the current method, even though he has more administrative experience than any other high court member.
Current Chief Justice Barbara Durham calls the selection method “goofy.”
xxxx “New panel to study reforming state judicial election process.”