MO Supreme Court Adopts New Judicial Selection Rule
December 17, 2009
For years opponents of open, democratic, judicial elections, have pointed to the state of Missouri and the so-called “Missouri Plan” as the shining example of the proper way to select judges: behind closed doors, without any involvement of the grubby masses, and with no sunlight shining on the cloaked machinations that lead to judicial appointments.
This week, the Missouri State Supreme voted to crack open the door on this secretive process.
The Associated Press reports that the state Supreme Court has adopted a new rule that will force state judicial nominating panels to make public all the names of the people that are interviewed for judicial openings.
Hardly a show stopper…but a move toward transparency.
To review, in Missouri, openings for the state Supreme Court are filled by the merit selection process: a judicial nominating panel interviews applicants, forwards three candidates to the governor, the governor chooses one. This process also applies to appellate courts and to trial courts in a handful of Missouri counties (Greene, Jackson, Clay, Platt and St. Louis). Other Missouri counties rely upon open, democratic judicial elections.
American Courthouse readers are by now familiar with the drill: the Missouri panel is comprised of seven members and is dominated by trial lawyers, legal elites and other and legal special interests. In fact, according to Better Courts for Missouri, ”all of the lawyer members under the ‘non-partisan’ judicial selection system are or were on the Board of Governors of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys.” They meet behind closed doors and their interviews, deliberations and discussions are kept secret. Only when the star chamber has made its fincal decision are the nominees’ names made available to the public.
So secretive is the process that even stalwart merit selection proponent Sandra Day O’Connor told a Missouri legal audience earlier this year that the system wasn’t working:
You can’t have secret proceedings.
More reform is needed - and change may be coming. Better Courts for Missouri is pushing ballot initiatives for the 2010 election that would overhaul the entire system by ending secret selection - a process that is as unaccountable as it is undemocratic.
Missouri trusts the people to choose legislators who make the laws and state executives who enforce them. It’s time to let voters choose the Missouri judges who interpret the laws.