Justice: Court Should Be Scaled Down

The state Supreme Court would be more efficient if it were scaled down from nine members to seven, the panel’s chief justice told a House panel Wednesday.

“This bill is a matter of efficiency,” Chief Justice Barbara Durham told the House Law and Justice Committee. “It is a good government bill.”

SB5467 would reduce the number of justices from nine to seven through attrition, by not filling the next two vacancies on the court.

The committee will vote Friday on two court-related measures, said Chairman Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia. Both passed the Senate earlier this month.

“With fewer judges, decisions would be made more quickly to allow us to do our job better,” Mike Patrick of the Council of Police Officers told the panel.