News & Updates

From a pool of 22 applicants, the judicial nominating commission identified ten semi-finalists for a supreme court vacancy, including six women and four men. The commission will narrow the list to three finalists in early August.

Fourteen attorneys, including six court of appeals judges, applied to fill the vacancy created by Justice Andrew Hurwitz’s move to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Only four of the fourteen applicants are Democrats. Governor Brewer’s first two appointees to the five-member court were Republicans.

The state supreme court denied Justice Joan Orie Melvin’s request to intervene in her criminal case and have it heard by an out-of-county judge. Justice Melvin, who is charged with using court staff to assist in her 2003 and 2009 supreme court campaigns, argued that a key prosecution witness is married to an Allegheny County judge and that the case may be too complex for a local district judge.

In addition to the court of appeals vacancy for which the commission on judicial nomination is currently accepting applications, there are several upcoming vacancies on the seven-member court. Two justices will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70, and one justice’s term will end, in 2014. Two more justices reach mandatory retirement in 2015 and 2016.

A thirteen-member judicial commission overturned a lower disciplinary panel that issued a cease-and-desist order against a Democratic supreme court candidate and former court of appeals judge, who identified himself as a judge several times in a campaign brochure. According to the commission, the statements were misleading but not false under the state’s code of judicial conduct.

The three justices who are standing for retention in November have raised nearly $1 million for their campaigns. The bulk of these contributions have come from lawyers and law firms. The justices are prohibited from personally soliciting contributions, so they have appointed campaign committees to act in their behalf.

Groups formed to support and oppose the retention of three supreme court justices are expected to run television spots and newspaper ads as the November election nears. “Restore Justice 2012” is targeting the justices for their role in removing a proposed constitutional amendment regarding federal health care from the 2010 ballot.

The Republican candidate for attorney general voiced his support for moving to a federal system of selecting judges. Such a proposal passed a house committee in March and is under consideration in the senate judiciary committee.

Incumbent Justice David Medina was defeated in the July 31 runoff for the Republican spot on the November ballot by challenger John Devine, a former trial court judge who has run for six political offices since 1994. Devine raised ethical concerns about Medina and touted his own anti-abortion activism in his grassroots campaign

Governor Martinez asked the judicial nominating commission to submit more names for a trial court vacancy, after the commission forwarded the name of one of only two applicants. The nominating commission reopened the application period and will submit any additional potential appointees to the governor in late August. If the governor declines to make an appointment, the supreme court will fill the seat.

Previously, we have drawn from the Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers (ETL) survey to describe the 23 ETL Consortium schools, explore the kinds of curricular innovations currently in place, and look at their support for faculty engagement in the improvement of teaching and learning. This post continues those analyses by looking at what schools are doing with respect to faculty professional activity related to teaching and learning.

Daniel Girard, founder and managing partner of a San Francisco- and New York-based litigation firm and a member of the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Advisory Committee, recently sat down with ETL to discuss his insights into legal education and what he sees as a the most promising new teaching strategies being implemented by law schools and the qualities that new attorneys need to succeed in the practice of law.

The latest edition of Rule One Review is now available. Rule One Review is a quarterly newsletter that shares information about pilot projects and other civil rules projects being monitored by the Rule One Initiative. Sign up for Rule One Review and…

The National Center for State Courts has released Future Trends in State Courts 2012: Special Focus on Courts and Community, including an article by Judge Kevin S. Burke (a member of our Advisory Board) on "Leadership Without Fear."

Three Democratic senators asked Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to investigate allegations that a Republican legislator pressured superior court judges regarding a judicial nomination. According to the senators, the Republican lawmaker told two judges facing re-nomination that the governor would “end their judicial careers” if they did not persuade Democrats to sign off on the governor’s nominee.

Supporters of a ballot measure that would alter the composition of the nominating commission for appellate court vacancies are unhappy with the issue summary prepared by the secretary of state’s office and plan to file a lawsuit. The proposed amendment’s sponsor describes part of the summary as “flat-out untrue” and calls the secretary of state a “dishonest broker of partisan politics.”

Sixteen of the 22 applicants for a supreme court vacancy are women. Indiana is one of three states without a woman on its high court. This will be Governor Daniels’ third appointment to the five-member court.

A state prosecutor announced that no charges would be filed against the three justices standing for retention in November. Governor Scott asked the state law enforcement agency to investigate whether the justices had violated state law in having court employees notarize campaign documents during working hours in order to meet a filing deadline, but according to the prosecutor, this cannot reasonably be described as furthering the justices’ campaigns.

As a result of a split vote on the issue by the supreme court, Justice Michael Gableman will not be required to recuse himself from cases involving a law firm that provided him with free legal representation in an ethics case in 2010.

Two supreme court justices are disputing which of them has seniority and should replace Chief Justice Kitty Kimball when she steps down next year. Justice Bernette Johnson was serving on an intermediate appellate court in 1994 when she was appointed to the supreme court as part of a federal consent decree, and she was elected in 2000.