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Robyn Brody
2017 - Present
2029
8
Robyn Brody is a judge of the Idaho Supreme Court. She assumed office on January 2, 2017. Her current term ends on January 1, 2029.
Brody ran for re-election for judge of the Idaho Supreme Court. She won in the general election on May 17, 2022.
Brody became a member of the court through a nonpartisan election. She succeeded retired Justice Jim Jones. To read more about judicial selection in Idaho, click here.
Brody became the vice chief justice of the court in July 2021, after former vice chief justice Roger Burdick retired.[1]
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.[2] Brody received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Brody received a B.A. in Russian area studies/international studies, a master's degree in international business, and a J.D. from the University of Denver.[4][5]
Before becoming a judge, Brody was a partner at Hepworth, Janis & Brody PLLC and an attorney at Brody Law Office, PLLC. She won election to the Idaho Supreme Court in 2017 and became vice chief justice in 2021. As of June 2021, Brody chaired the Pro Bono Commission, the Language Access Committee, and the Civil Rules Committee and was an adjunct professor at the University of Idaho College of Law.[5][4]
Elections
2022
See also: Idaho Supreme Court elections, 2022
General election
General election for Idaho Supreme Court
Incumbent Robyn Brody won election in the general election for Idaho Supreme Court on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Robyn Brody (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 221,501 |
| Total votes: 221,501 | |||
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2016
Brody filed to run for the supreme court seat vacated by retiring Chief Justice Jim Jones.[6] She was one of the top two finishers in the May 17 election and advanced to a runoff against state Sen. Curt McKenzie (R) during the November 8 general election.
November 8 runoff election
Robyn Brody defeated Curt McKenzie in the runoff for the Idaho Supreme Court seat.
| Idaho Supreme Court, Jones' Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Robyn Brody |
53.80% | 298,983 |
| Curt McKenzie | 46.20% | 256,719 |
| Total Votes (100% reporting) | 555,702 | |
| Source: Idaho Secretary of State Official Results | ||
May 17 general election
| Idaho Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Jones, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Robyn Brody |
30.29% | 45,282 |
| Curt McKenzie |
27.66% | 41,348 |
| Sergio Gutierrez | 21.37% | 31,944 |
| Clive Strong | 20.68% | 30,921 |
| Total Votes (938 of 938: 100%) | 149,495 | |
| Source: Idaho Secretary of State Official Results | ||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Robyn Brody did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
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.[7]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[8]
- 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.
Robyn
Brody
Idaho
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- State was a Republican trifecta at time of appointment
Partisan Profile
Details:
Brody donated $878 to Republican candidates and organizations. At the time of her election, Idaho was a Republican trifecta.
State supreme court judicial selection in Idaho
- See also: Judicial selection in Idaho
The five justices of the Idaho Supreme Court are elected in nonpartisan elections. They serve six-year terms, after which they must seek re-election if they wish to retain their seat. To learn more about these elections, visit the Idaho judicial elections page.[9]
Qualifications
To serve on the supreme court, a judge must:
- be at least 30 years old;
- be a U.S. citizen;
- be an Idaho resident for at least two years;
- be in good standing as an active or judicial member of the state bar for at least two years; and
- a licensed attorney for at least 10 years.[9]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by peer vote to serve a four-year term. [9]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs on the court, an interim judge is appointed by the governor from a list of two to four names provided by a nominating commission. This judge will serve out the remainder of the unexpired term, after which he or she must run in a nonpartisan election to remain on the court.[9]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Idaho Business Review, "Justice Roger Burdick to retire from Idaho Supreme Court," March 15, 2021
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 LinkedIn, "Robyn M. Brody," accessed July 1, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 State of Idaho Judicial Branch, "Hon. Robyn M. Brody," accessed July 1, 2021
- ↑ Idaho Secretary of State, "Declaration for 2016," March 25, 2016
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection," accessed September 14, 2021
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Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Idaho • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Idaho
State courts:
Idaho Supreme Court • Idaho Court of Appeals • Idaho District Courts • Idaho Magistrate Division
State resources:
Courts in Idaho • Idaho judicial elections • Judicial selection in Idaho
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