Judicial elections, democratic appointment (e.g., senate confirmation), and the Missouri Plan (a/k/a "merit selection")

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Saturday, June 28, 2014

Judicial Retention Elections in Alaska

Covered by Alaska Public Media:

The Alaska Judicial Council has released its recommendations for retention elections this November: "13 of 14 state judges have been given the thumbs up. But one judge, William Estelle, who sits on the bench in Palmer, has not gained Judicial Council approval."

“Judge Estelle filed 16 untrue affidavits, under oath, from September 2011 through February, 2013, swearing that he had completed or issued decisions in all matters that had been pending before him, for more than six months, when in fact, he had not completed those decisions,”

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Tennessee Judicial Retention Drama

In August, Tennessee voters will be asked to retain or replace three Supreme Court justices.  NPR says: "The Tennessee Bar Association is all but endorsing three Supreme Court justices sitting for retention elections this year. The group released a poll Friday showing 90 percent of respondents favor keeping the court as it is. The Bar has a policy of not making endorsements in judicial elections. It’s never even polled its members until this year. The association wanted to counter an effort by Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey to unseat three justices appointed by Democrats."

Dahlia Lithwick weighs in.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Selection to the Canadian Supreme Court

News: "Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the appointment of a Quebec judge to the Supreme Court of Canada on Tuesday, three months after the top court rejected his previous appointment of Marc Nadon."  Three of the court's nine members must be from Quebec.

The National Post reports opposition party "justice critic Françoise Boivin said Judge Gascon has a 'stellar reputation' and that he was a 'great nomination' for the high court....Ms. Boivin said she has no concerns about a lack of any confirmation hearing, a process the Conservatives established that gives MPs their only chance to question Supreme Court justices about their legal background."

Adam M. Dodek, Vice-Dean Research and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law,
University of Ottawa (Common Law Section), has written Reforming the Supreme Court Appointment Process, 2004-2014: A Ten Year Democratic Audit