Merit Selection of Arizona Judges Preserved

The Arizona legislature failed in it's attempt to refer to voters a constitutional amendment that would have effectively ended merit selection of judges in Arizona and made the judiciary a creature of the Executive over time. The President of the Arizona Bar gives and excellent overview of the final version that eventually passed and will likely be referred to voters. I still see no compelling reason why voters should agree to water-down merit selection, even to the much-attenuated degree the Bar negotiated.

An independent judiciary is vital to our republic at the state and national level. It is the overtly political nomination process for the federal Supreme Court and whole Federal bench that has abetted a steady erosion of our freedoms and undermined our republic's political system, in my opinion. Let's not allow the same trend here in Arizona. Our state politicians are so extreme and thoroughly irresponsible that our political system, such as it is, wouldn't survive an overtly politicized bench for long. The absolute rash of overtly and facially unconstitutional legislation we have seen in recent years would not be effectively policed by a more politically beholden bench.

"I wanted to give you an update on legislation which affects the selection of judges in Arizona.

After much negotiation, a compromise was reached on Senate Concurrent Resolution 1001. As many of you know, there were a number of bills introduced this legislative session which could have had severe impact on merit selection. The State Bar, together with the Arizona Supreme Court, the Arizona Judges Association and House and Senate leaders, worked to create a bill which addressed the interests of each group. Before I discuss the changes, I wanted to point out what stays the same:

• Merit selection for Maricopa and Pima (and soon to be Pinal) counties continues.

• The Judicial Nominating Commission continues

• There is no Senate confirmation

So what is different?

• The State Bar will have a designated seat on each of the court commissions which will be appointed by the Bar’s President. This seat would be one of the five lawyer positions (which already exist) on each commission. As in the past, the other four lawyer positions will be appointed by the Governor. The Bar’s role in vetting the four lawyers appointed by the Governor for the commissions would be limited to collecting and reviewing applications, and then forwarding all of them with recommendations to the Governor. In the past, the Bar’s nominating committee only forwarded a limited number of applications which passed a merit screening.

• Increases the qualifications for lawyer members of the commission to: 10 years of practice, good standing and no formal disciplinary complaints or formal sanctions.

• Increases judicial terms to 8 years.

• Increases retirement age for judges from 70 to75.

• Increases number of names commissions must send to the Governor from 3 to 8; and for multiple vacancy situations involving the same court, it reduces the number to 6 with the additional limitation that a person cannot be submitted for more than one vacancy. The Governor, however, could make an appointment from any of the nominees presented for any of the vacancies in that court.

• Requires the Supreme Court to make all opinions and orders accessible to the public on its website.

• Creates a joint legislative committee that may conduct hearings on judges prior to retention elections. These hearings, however, are strictly informational.

SCR 1001 passed out of the Arizona House of Representatives on Thursday, April 14th. It has been transmitted to the Arizona Senate where it will likely face a vote next week. If passed, it requires voter approval on the 2012 general election ballot.

The Bar has worked extensively this legislative session to make sure that the strengths of our current system are protected. At the same time, we understand that there is always room for improvement. We’re confident that the current version of SCR 1001 accomplishes those needs."