JP Election Brief: Judges seeking retention are judged

September 13, 2012

by: State Court Staff

Every Thursday, Judgepedia's State Court Staff examines events in the world of judicial elections across the nation. Make sure to use Judgepedia's Election Central the rest of the week as a hub for all your judicial election needs.

Important date

Filing deadlines

• Oct. 7: Filing deadline for the Alaska general election
• Oct. 8: Filing deadline for the Arizona general election

Want to know more about Judgepedia's 2012 election coverage?
Check out Judgepedia's Election Central for details!

Iowa Supreme Court retention

A new poll of 600 likely voters shows that the four Iowa Supreme Court justices up for retention in the November election are likely to be retained. The judges up for retention are: Bruce B. Zager, Thomas Waterman, and Edward Mansfield, who are facing their first retentions, and David Wiggins, the only remaining judge on the court involved in the controversial 2009 ruling legalizing gay marriage.

In 2010, three Supreme Court justices, David Baker, Marsha Ternus and Michael Streit, were voted out of office following anger over the gay marriage decision. These justices were the first to be defeated at retention since the state instituted its system of appointment and retention in 1962.

The recent poll indicates a major shift in public perception, but voters will have to wait until election day to see if it proves correct.

In the News

Alaska's Judicial Council recommends retention for all 26 judges on 2012 ballot

All 26 judges up for retention on November 6th have all received a positive recommendation from the Alaska Judicial Council. When a judge is recommended for retention, that means the Council finds the judge's legal ability, diligence, temperament, and fairness to be in order.

This typical occurrence for Alaska's retention elections was interrupted two years ago when the Council voted 5-1 to not recommend Judge Richard W. Postma, Jr. for retention. After failing to receive the Council's positive recommendation, 54.81% of voters voted against Postma's retention.

• See also: Alaska Bar Poll
• See Alaska judicial elections, 2012 to learn who is up for retention this November
• See Alaska Judicial Council for more information on the Judicial Council
• See Richard W. Postma, Jr. to learn more about his 2010 election

Effects of online voter registration in Arizona

Over the past decade, the voter registration process has taken a decidedly technological turn in numerous states. In 2002, Arizona became the first state to allow online voter registration.

A presentation delivered by representatives of the Arizona legislature at the National Conference of State Legislators in August showed the effects of online voter registration in Maricopa County, Arizona. They reported that this year, 72% of all voter registration in the county has been accomplished online. It is estimated that the cost for one online voter registration is $0.03, while the cost for a traditional voter registration is $0.83. This means that between 2008 and 2011, online voter registration saved Maricopa County almost $1.4 million. According to the presentation, online registration has the additional benefits of increasing the accuracy of registration information (since voters are entering it themselves) and increased convenience for voters (since the registration site is accessible at any time).

This July, Maryland joined the list of states allowing online voter registration and, in August, New York followed suit, becoming the eleventh state to allow the service. In the future, as technology becomes ever more pervasive, it seems likely that more and more states will follow in the footsteps of Arizona, Maryland, and New York in allowing online voter registration for their citizens.

Judge removed from Mississippi Court of Appeals race for living in the wrong district

Jackson attorney Latrice Westbrooks thought she would be running for a judgeship this year. However, the Mississippi Board of Election Commissioners removed her from the Mississippi Court of Appeals race on Sept. 10. In a unanimous decision, the commissioners decided that since Westbrooks didn't live in District 2, she couldn't run for office for judge of that district.

Westbrooks admitted that she lives seven-tenths of a mile outside of the district, but she claims that state law does not require candidates to live in the districts in which they seek office. Westbrooks' law office is, in fact, located in District 2.

Lance Stevens, the attorney who represented Westbrooks before the election commissioners, said that he thinks the decision was a matter of politics. Westbrooks plans to file an appeal of the decision with the 5th Chancery Court. If the appeal succeeds, Westbrooks will compete against Ceola James and incumbent judge Ermea Russell in November.

Utah evaluation commission releases retention rankings

The Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission has released its reports and recommendations for judges standing for retention in 2012. The commission was created by the Utah State Legislature in 2008 in an effort to provide essential information to voters on judges up for retention. This year, the commission used surveys of attorneys, court staff and jurors to rate judges. In addition, they utilized courtroom observation ratings by volunteers.

These aspects were compiled by the commission to determine whether a judge meets the minimum performance standard. All judges ranked this year met that standard, and all twenty-six were recommended for retention by the commission.

In fact, only two judges were not recommended unanimously. Those were Judges Christine S. Johnson and Shauna L. Kerr. In the report on Judge Johnson, 80 out of 88 attorneys questioned recommended her retention. Also, in ratings on specific categories of performance (such as legal ability, communication, integrity and judicial temperament), Johnson scored in the 99-101st percentile in comparison with her peers. Results from jurors placed her within the 94-98th percentile.

For Judge Kerr, 34 out of 35 attorneys recommended her retention in surveys. For individual categories, 3.94 was her lowest average score, which was in legal ability. The commission determined that a score of 3 was needed to meet performance standards. Furthermore, when asked for a word to describe the judge, 139 out of 140 responses were positive.

Leading up to an election, commissions and bar associations across the nation release rankings of judicial performance. At times, these ratings are seen as rubber stamps, while other complain about negative results with no explanation. To learn more about controversy with recommendations this year, read JP Election Brief: Ready for the next round of primaries.

See also

• Judgepedia's Election Central