Chief Justice Takes On Issues

Here’s what Linda Copple Trout, who will become Idaho’s first female chief justice on Feb. 1, has to say about some of the issues facing the state’s judicial system:

Death penalty: She hopes the Idaho Supreme Court within the next few months will consider recommendations from a panel, led by 2nd District Judge George Reinhardt, on standards of knowledge and experience for attorneys who represent defendants in first-degree murder cases. A number of condemned killers’ appeals are based at least in part on arguments that they received ineffective assistance of counsel.

Trout also supports creating some kind of statewide appellate public defender system to help ease the tax burden on counties required to pay for representing defendants throughout the often lengthy appeals process.

“That’s in effect what the attorney general does for the prosecutors’ side, and that certainly gives a certain amount of relief to the counties.”

Heavy caseload: Trout wants to add one district judge each in Boise and Coeur d’Alene, where the need is most desperate. She also supports adding a fourth judge to the Idaho Court of Appeals, but said lawmakers have indicated a lack of money means that request will not be considered this year.

“I’m not sure that I come in at this point with solutions to the problem,” she said. “It’s more a matter of identifying what the problems are and trying to figure out with the trial judges what we can do about it.”

Judicial pay: Idaho judges’ salaries increased 4 percent last year and will go up 5 percent more in July. But Trout expects to be back asking for more in 1998.

“It’s telling when you see so few people applying for judicial positions,” she said. “Not that we don’t get qualified people to apply, but if those positions were really attractive I think we’d be seeing large numbers of applicants interested in them.”

Cameras in the courtroom: She supports the program championed by outgoing Chief Justice McDevitt.

“My primary concern is hearing from the trial judges if there are problems we need to address. But the feedback that I’ve been getting is that it’s working well,” Trout said. “I think the public, even though it’s kind of been limited exposure, appreciates it and enjoys it.”