Walters Named To High Court Lifelong Idahoan Has Headed Court Of Appeals For 15 Years

Jesse Walters Jr., chief judge on the Court of Appeals for the last 15 years, on Thursday was appointed to the Idaho Supreme Court by Gov. Phil Batt.

Batt said Walters is highly regarded in the Idaho legal community after a long career as a private attorney, district judge and 15 years on the appellate court. The governor also said Walters will not be a judicial activist.

“I’m convinced that he is not one who tries to write the law from the bench. He wants it carried out according to the Constitution and the laws of the state of Idaho,” Batt said.

Justice Charles McDevitt, who earlier this year stepped down as chief justice of the five-person panel, plans to retire in September. Since Batt named Walters to the Supreme Court, the governor will have to appoint a new member of the Court of Appeals.

After that, Supreme Court Chief Justice Linda Copple Trout will name a new chief judge for the court.

For Walters, it was the fifth time he was nominated for the Supreme Court by the Idaho Judicial Council. The council sent a list of four nominees to the governor.

“Out of a group of outstanding people, he was the outstanding one,” Batt said.

Walters said: “This week, waiting for the governor to make the decision, after the Judicial Council went through the screening process, was the most humbling experience I have gone through in my life.

“I hope that I can continue to carry out the trust and respect that the people have shown to me over the years in re-electing me to the court system and to the governor for making the appointment.”

Walters was born in Rexburg and still has strong family ties to eastern Idaho. He attended Ricks College and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Idaho in 1961 and a law degree two years later.

After clerking for the Idaho Supreme Court from 1963 to 1964, he practiced law for 13 years and in 1977 was named a district judge by Gov. Cecil Andrus.

In 1982, the Idaho Legislature created the Court of Appeals to take some of the work load off the Supreme Court and Walters was one of three men named to the panel.

He was appointed chief judge and has been reappointed every two years since.

Batt predicted he would be an excellent justice.

“Judge Walters has nearly two decades of judicial experience. He is well-versed in the law and he is highly regarded in Idaho’s legal community,” the governor said. “As a lifelong Idahoan, Judge Walters knows our state, its history and the challenges we face.”

Walters said he has no problems with the death penalty. “I think this is a penalty that the Legislature on behalf of the people has adopted, and I personally feel that there are some occasions when some people who have committed certain acts have forfeited the right to be with us,” he said.

As a trial judge, he said he never had the occasion to impose the death penalty.

Walters asked the last Legislature to name a fourth judge to the panel to keep up with a growing work load. The Court of Appeals is expected to turn out about 350 decisions this year.

The Legislature didn’t go along, but Walters said he will continue the quest.