News & Updates

Bypassing the intermediate appellate court, the supreme court agreed to review a trial court decision invalidating an increase in judges’ contributions to their health insurance and pensions. Governor Christie characterized this as a “manipulation of the judicial process” and referred to the justices as "unelected, unresponsive public servants" and "the exalted elite."

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.

At a recent event in her honor, Sandra Day O'Connor acknowledged her unlikely path to the Supreme Court, which resulted in her being the first female justice on the Court. And now she is "breaking ground again and creating her own template for life after the court."

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.

The judicial nominating commission held public interviews of the eighteen applicants for a court of appeals vacancy.

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.

The late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who served on the O'Connor Advisory Committee and was a recipient of the Transparent Courthouse® Award, is now being honored by the Ohio Supreme Court, which is naming the Ohio Judicial Center after the second-longest serving justice in Ohio's history.

A second supreme court justice announced plans to not seek reelection when his term expires in 2012. Chief Justice Paul De Muniz announced his retirement intentions in October.

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.

House Speaker Dean Cannon announced that he would not seek major changes to the judiciary in the 2012 legislative session. In the 2011 session, Cannon unsuccessfully proposed a constitutional amendment that would have split and expanded the supreme court. Instead, voters in 2012 will only weigh in on whether to require senate confirmation of supreme court appointments.

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.