System Worked For Judge Eismann

Supporters of Justice Cathy Silak who were seeking a beauty contest to keep her on the Idaho Supreme Court are angry that an election broke out. And she lost soundly. Now, they want to change Idaho’s Constitution to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

“This election is a tragedy for the Idaho judicial system,” said Robert Huntley, a former Supreme Court justice and unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor. “We’ll be suffering the consequences at both the Supreme Court and district judge level for many years to come.”

Obviously, Huntley has no faith in the voters, who preferred Fourth District Judge Daniel Eismann. Huntley and other elitists think judicial panels should pick Supreme Court justices, not the public. Voters in conservative Idaho knew what they were doing when they rejected Silak, by a margin of 59 percent to 41 percent.

Because Eismann decided to tell Idahoans about himself rather than grin and hide behind judicial restraint as Supreme Court candidates usually do, voters knew he was a conservative. Voters knew his election would tilt the five-member court from somewhat activist to conservative. They also knew he was a member of the National Rifle Association. Knew he’s a Christian who opposes abortion. This led critics to claim his statements will prejudice future cases.

In other words, Eismann ran to win. He countered Silak’s advantage as an incumbent, by showing up at Republican Party functions. (Silak has ties to the Democrats). At times, Eismann’s supporters got carried away - as they did when they conducted an unethical, although legal, push poll. But Silak’s backers went overboard, too. They tried to paint Eismann, a decorated war veteran, as a right-wing extremist. He isn’t. In fact, both candidates were qualified for the office.

The same can’t be said of all who run for the Supreme Court in Idaho, Washington and the 10 others states who hold nonpartisan elections. In Washington, over the last decade or so, a candidate barely out of law school ran for the court. Another whose name confused voters with someone else defeated a respected, sitting judge. Those are hazards of the democratic process.

In Idaho, Supreme Court justices generally thwart voters by stepping down before their term ends to allow a judicial committee and the governor to pick a replacement. That’s how Silak became a justice. Prior to 1998, Idahoans hadn’t voted on an open Supreme Court seat in 30 years. Now, Silak has become the first justice to be unseated in 56 years.

The system isn’t broken. It worked, which annoyed the losers.