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James Burke (Wyoming)
E. James Burke was the chief justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court. Burke was appointed to the court in January 2005 by Democratic Governor Dave Freudenthal. He was retained in 2006 and 2014, and his most recent eight-year term would have expired on January 1, 2023. Justice Burke retired on October 8, 2018.[1] To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
He was appointed as the chief justice in 2014 to succeed Marilyn Kite and served in this position until his retirement.[2][3] [4][2]
Education
Justice Burke received his B.S. from St. Joseph’s College (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) in 1971 and earned his J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1977.[2]
Career
After graduating from law school, Burke was engaged in private practice in Cheyenne until his appointment to the bench as a Wyoming First District Court judge in 2001. He served in this capacity until his appointment to the Wyoming Supreme Court.[2]
Awards and associations
- Former member, Board of Judicial Policy
- Past president, Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association
- Former board member, Cheyenne Chamber, People's Law School program[5]
Elections
2014
Burke was retained to the Wyoming Supreme Court with 77.3 percent of the vote on November 4, 2014. [6]
Political Ideology
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.
Burke received a campaign finance score of -1.12, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of .37 that justices received in Wyoming.
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.[7]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Wyoming Justice James Burke. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Project Vote Smart, "Justice E. James Burke (WY)"
- Trib.com, "Wyoming Supreme Court reverses sex case convictions," March 17, 2010 (dissent)
- Wyoming Supreme Court, "Judicial Nominating Commission announcecs Supreme Court Vacancy," June 8, 2018
Footnotes
- ↑ Gillette News Record, "Supreme Court Chief Justice Burke to retire," June 18, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wyoming Judicial Branch, "Justice E. James Burke," accessed August 10, 2016
- ↑ Wyoming Secretary of State, "Supreme Court of Wyoming," accessed December 4, 2014
- ↑ Judicial selection in Wyoming
- ↑ Billings Gazette, "Burke named to Wyoming Supreme Court," November 14, 2004
- ↑ Wyoming Secretary of State, "2014 Judges Standing For Retention," May 16, 2014
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Wyoming • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Wyoming
State courts:
Wyoming Supreme Court • Wyoming District Courts • Wyoming Circuit Courts • Wyoming Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Wyoming • Wyoming judicial elections • Judicial selection in Wyoming
