News & Updates

Of the 100 justices who have served on the supreme court since statehood, only 36 have been elected to their seats. The rest were appointed by the governor to fill mid-term vacancies. But with two open-seat races in 2012, the court will have a majority of elected justices for the first time since 1913.

In 2012, superior court judges in Pinal County will stand for retention rather than reelection. Because the county’s population now exceeds 250,000, its judges will now be included in the state’s merit selection, retention election, and performance evaluation program. Pinal County joins Maricopa County and Pima County.

As part of his plan to “overhaul” the federal government, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry proposed eighteen-year, staggered terms for supreme court justices and similarly limited terms for lower federal court judges.

A state court judge ruled that the governor must disclose the names of nominees submitted by the judicial selection commission. Unlike his predecessors, the governor had refused to make the names public because he feared it would deter attorneys from applying for judgeships if the names were disclosed.

Governor Gregoire appointed superior court judge Steven Gonzalez to the supreme court to fill the vacancy created by Justice Gerry Alexander’s retirement. Gonzalez is only the second Hispanic to serve on the supreme court.

Supreme court presiding justice George C. Carlson, Jr. announced that he will not seek reelection in 2012. Carlson was first appointed to the bench in 2001 and won reelection in 2004.

Voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75.

Justice Eakin was one of six appellate judges who retained their seats in the November elections.

On Election Day in New York, Colby Hamilton writes about the political nature of judicial elections in New York, where Queens Assistant District Attorney Sarah Steiner said, "Judgeships are rewards mostly for loyal party activity over the years."

Substantial contributions from trial lawyers to an intermediate appellate court candidate became an issue in the campaign. Republicans accused the Democratic recipient of the contributions of “putting justice for sale” when he accepted $300,000 from a trial lawyers PAC.

Responding to questions from lawmakers regarding his record of judicial appointments, Governor Scott said that he will not appoint judges who think differently from him in order to achieve diversity. Of the thirty-six judicial appointments Scott has made, only two have been black.

Supreme court justice Michael Eakin raised more than $526,000 for his retention campaign. Less than a week before the election, no organized opposition had arisen, but Eakin wanted to be prepared for a late challenge. Then-Justice Russell Nigro lost his retention bid in 2005, and Justice Thomas Saylor was challenged in 2007.

Seven in ten respondents to a recent poll favored or strongly favored adopting campaign contribution limits for judicial races. Just over half supported public financing of judicial elections.

October was a record-setting month for Senate confirmation of federal judicial nominees. The fifteen confirmed judges included two appellate court and thirteen district court nominees. Approximately eighty-five federal court vacancies remain.

Proposals to move to merit selection for appellate judges are under consideration in both the house and senate. Supporters of the proposals believe that judges should be selected based on qualifications rather than name recognition.

Two constitutional amendments have been proposed to move away from merit selection for appellate judges, a statutory process that sunsets in 2012. But since the constitution cannot be amended until 2014, the state bar association called for the legislature to extend the Tennessee Plan in the meantime.

During a series of panels that comprised a Defending Iowa’s Courts event, the executive director of the state ACLU chapter described an organized national effort to dismantle judicial merit selection processes. The panel also discussed legislative attacks on Iowa’s courts in the wake of the Varnum v. Brien decision and expectations that the other supreme court justices who joined the unanimous opinion in the case would see retention challenges in 2012 and 2016.

Governor Rick Perry has made more appointments to the supreme court than any other Texas governor. While he has been praised for diversifying the court, his appointees have been characterized as business-friendly and results-oriented. Since 2000, defendants such as oil companies, insurance firms, and other big businesses have won 75% of cases brought by consumers.

President Obama nominated supreme court justice Andrew Hurwitz to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. If Hurwitz is confirmed, Governor Brewer will have the opportunity to make her third appointment to the five-member court.

This article from the Colorado Lawyer discusses the 2011 conference on evaluating appellate judges and its outcomes. In 2010, a number of states saw organized opposition to the retention of Supreme Court justices. This opposition was motivated…