Selection Snapshots

There is speculation that the GOP will return the state to partisan judicial elections if Republicans win control of the legislative and executive branches in November. The legislature made appellate court elections nonpartisan in 2004, but all eight appellate court candidates have clear partisan affiliations.

The judicial performance evaluation commission recommended retention of three appellate judges standing for retention in November, though one judge scored lower than his colleagues on timeliness of rulings and handling his ongoing workload.

For her third appointment to the five-member supreme court, Governor Brewer selected court of appeals judge Ann Scott Timmer, a Republican. Prior to this appointment, thirty-five of the 38 judges she had appointed since taking office in 2009 were Republicans.

Both gubernatorial candidates oppose Amendment 3, a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow governors to appoint a majority of the members of the appellate judicial commission and give governors four nominees, rather than three, to choose from in appointing appellate judges.

Governor Brownback’s chief counsel is among 21 applicants for a court of appeals vacancy. After screening and interviewing the applicants, the nominating commission will identify three candidates from which the governor must choose.

Recent polling indicates that the chief justice race between Judge Robert Vance Jr. and Roy Moore is a dead heat, a somewhat surprising turn of events given that Vance did not enter the race as the Democratic candidate until September. Since then, Vance has raised $500,000 and received endorsements from two prominent Alabama Republicans.

Following public interviews of 18 applicants and private deliberations, the appellate judicial commission selected three nominees for possible appointment to the supreme court vacancy created by Justice Ray Price’s retirement. Three interviewees were women and one was a minority, with six from outside metropolitan areas. Governor Nixon must make the appointment within 60 days.

Supporters of Amendment 3, which would alter the composition of the appellate judicial commission and require the commission to identify 4 (rather then 3) nominees for each vacancy, announced that they will not campaign for the amendment’s passage.

A radio ad funded by the American Justice Partnership highlights “eyebrow-raising” real estate transactions by a sitting justice who is not running for reelection, and a mailing from the Michigan Republican Party suggests that the Democratic supreme court candidates do not care about the potential mortgage fraud.

Governor Cuomo’s first appointments to the state’s appellate courts reflect an emphasis on diversity. Of the seven appointments, one judge is Asian, two are black, and one is openly gay. There is diversity in their professional backgrounds as well. The governor appoints judges to the appellate division from nominees submitted by a screening panel.