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Eric Rosen

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Eric Rosen
Image of Eric Rosen
Kansas Supreme Court
Tenure

2005 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

20

Compensation

Base salary

$168,598

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 3, 2020

Appointed

2005

Education

Bachelor's

University of Kansas, 1975

Graduate

University of Kansas, 1975

Law

Washburn University School of Law, 1984

Personal
Birthplace
Topeka, Kan.
Contact

Eric Rosen is a judge of the Kansas Supreme Court. He assumed office in 2005. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.

Rosen ran for re-election for judge of the Kansas Supreme Court. He won in the retention election on November 3, 2020.

Rosen was first appointed to the court in 2005 by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D).[1][2] To read more about judicial selection in Kansas, click here.

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Rosen received a confidence score of Mild Democrat.[4] Click here to read more about this study.

Rosen previously served as a judge on the Shawnee County District Court. In 2002, he was appointed to the Kansas Sentencing Commission.[5]

Biography

Rosen received his B.A. in social work and master's degree from the University of Kansas in 1975. He graduated from the Washburn University School of Law with a J.D. in 1984.[1]

In the 1980s, he worked as an assistant district attorney in Shawnee County, associate general counsel for the Office of the Kansas Securities Commissioner, and an associate at at Porter, Fairchild, Wachter, and Haney. In 1990, he became a partner at Hein, Ebert, and Rosen. He also worked as a lecturer at the Menninger School of Law and Psychiatry.[1]

Rosen served as a judge on the Shawnee County District Court from 1993 to 2005.[1]

Elections

2020

See also: Kansas Supreme Court elections, 2020

Kansas Supreme Court

Eric Rosen was retained to the Kansas Supreme Court on November 3, 2020 with 69.9% of the vote.

Retention
 Vote
%
Votes
Yes
 
69.9
 
826,318
No
 
30.1
 
356,239
Total Votes
1,182,557

2014

See also: Kansas judicial elections, 2014

Rosen was retained to the Kansas Supreme Court with 52.7 % of the vote on November 4, 2014.[6]

2008

Rosen was retained to the Kansas Supreme Court with 69.9% of the vote.[7]

2005

Rosen was appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) in 2005.[1]

Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship and Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[8]

The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:

  • Strong Democrat
  • Mild Democrat
  • Indeterminate[9]
  • Mild Republican
  • Strong Republican

This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.

Eric
Rosen

Kansas

  • Partisan Confidence Score:
    Mild Democrat
  • Judicial Selection Method:
    Assisted appointment through Bar Association controlled judicial nominating commission
  • Key Factors:
    • Was a registered Democrat before 2020
    • Appointed by a Democratic governor


Partisan Profile

Details:

Rosen was a registered Democrat prior to 2020. He was appointed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) in 2005.

Other Scores:

In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Rosen received a campaign finance score of -0.24, indicating a liberal ideological leaning.


Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)

See also: Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores of state supreme court justices, 2012

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.

Rosen received a campaign finance score of -0.24, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of 0.12 that justices received in Kansas.

The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[10]

State supreme court judicial selection in Kansas

See also: Judicial selection in Kansas

The seven justices on the Kansas Supreme Court are selected through the assisted appointment method. The Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission is responsible for providing the names of nominees to the governor, who must then select a justice from that list.[11] The commission is made up of nine members, one lawyer and non-lawyer from each congressional district and one additional lawyer who serves as chairperson. The four non-lawyers are appointed by the governor. Four lawyers are elected by members of the Kansas State Bar in each congressional district. The fifth lawyer is elected by a statewide vote of members of the Kansas State Bar.[11]

Newly appointed justices serve for at least one year, after which they must stand for retention in the next even-year general election. If retained, the justice serves a six-year term and must stand for retention every six years after that point to remain in office.[11]

Qualifications

To serve on this court, a judge must:[11]

  • have at least 10 years of active and continuous law practice in the state;[12]
  • be at least 30 years old; and
  • be no older than 75. If a sitting judge turns 75 while on the bench, he or she may serve out the term.

Chief justice

The court's chief justice is chosen by seniority. He or she is the longest-serving justice on the court and serves as chief indefinitely.[13] Upon his or her retirement, the justice with the next-longest tenure on the court becomes chief justice.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a judge's term. A judicial nominating commission recommends qualified candidates to the governor and the governor selects a successor from that list. The new appointee serves for at least one year and then stands for retention.[14]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.


See also

Kansas Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Kansas
Kansas Court of Appeals
Kansas Supreme Court
Elections: 202520242023202220212020201920182017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Kansas
Federal courts
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External links

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Kansas Judicial Branch, "Eric S. Rosen," accessed July 29, 2021
  2. KCUR.org, "Kansas Judges Targeted For Ouster Retain Seats," November 4, 2014
  3. We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
  4. The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
  5. Kansas Judicial Branch, "Honorable Eric S. Rosen," accessed February 6, 2019
  6. Kansas Secretary of State, "2014 General Election," accessed July 29, 2021
  7. Kansas Secretary of State, "2008 General Election Results"
  8. The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
  9. An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
  10. Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Supreme Court Nominating Commission, "Filling a Supreme Court vacancy," Aug. 6, 2020
  12. This may include work as a lawyer, judge, or full-time teacher at an accredited law school.
  13. Our Kansas Courts, "Judicial Selection," accessed Sept. 24, 2021
  14. Kansas Judicial Branch, "Kansas Supreme Court," accessed June 21, 2021