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September 14, 2009 in City
Sandra Day O’Connor: End judge elections in Wash.
SEATTLE — The first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court says there’s a serious problem with the government in Washington and many other states: They elect their judges.
Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor spoke Monday at a Seattle University Law School conference. She told a sold-out audience that threats to judicial independence are rising exponentially as more and more money pours into judicial races around the country.
O’Connor advocates a system by which nonpartisan commissions select judges based on their merit. At the end of a judge’s term voters could decide whether to retain them.
Washington state Chief Justice Gerry Alexander served on a panel with O’Connor at the conference. He said that even though he was almost defeated in an expensive election in 2006, he says he supports the current system because such elections are a tradition here.
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elcee1987 on September 14 at 3:43 p.m.
Thank you Sandra! I have been against the voting in of judges since I was old enough to vote! Rather than making judges endure costly elections and try to keep their constituency, we must make it easier for them to make objective and fair decisions based on the law, not on the next election!
skeugster on September 14 at 5:29 p.m.
In Washington we have the notion that we elect judges. We do, and yet we do not. Most judicial positions are filled by gubernatorial appointment to vacant judicial positions. Rarely does a judge at any level serve out his or her full term. Usually, a retiring judge retires before his or her term is up and the governor appoints someone to fill the position. The judge then runs for election as an incumbent.
Also, we think we elect the judges who act as judges of the three judge panels by which the Court of Appeals does its work. We do not. We elect judges to the Divisions of the Court[s] but the judges who decide the cases are not elected, they are appointed. And, the panels are not apportioned as to the judges appointed and the electorate of the Division. See http://www.steveeugster.com/washington_court_of_appeals.htm.
It is interesting to note that many of the cases appealed to the Court of Appeals from Spokane County Superior Court are not decided by judges who are elected from the Division District which includes Spokane County. They are decided by judges who have no electoral connection to Spokane County or the District in which Spokane County is located.
So much for the election of judges to the “real supreme court of the State of Washington” for most cases — the Washingtion Court[s] of Appeal. For the most part the only cases which get to the Supreme Court are those which the Supreme Court has decided to review - about 1 out of 10 cases.
eagleproducer on September 14 at 8:35 p.m.
While were at reforming what positions are elected, how about eliminating elections for Sheriff?
What is this, Dodge City?
Rifleman_Dodd on September 14 at 10:22 p.m.
While we are on a roll. .County Auditor and County Assessor.
Washington State. 110 years old. Tradition, unhampered by progress.