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Next Meeting: TBD |
Minutes
10/21/09 | 09 /17/09 | 9/27/10 | 11/29/10
MSBA Judiciary Committee
Meeting Summary
November 29, 2010
4:00 p.m.
Present: Mike Unger – Chair, Brent Routman, Nancy Mischel-MSBA Staff. By phone: Kevin Beck, Hon. Louise Dovre Bjorkman, Karen Cole, Daniel Cragg, Dyan Ebert, Fred Finch, Mike Ford, Ryan Kaess, Joseph Kelly, Jonathan Levy, David Ludescher, Karna Johnson Peters, Rep. Steve Simon, Mary Vasaly, David Stowman-Guest.
Status of Judicial Election Reform in Minnesota post-election: Mr. Unger noted that the shift to Republican control of the legislature may make it more difficult to pass a retention election bill. Mr. Routman, in his capacity as President of the Coalition for Impartial Justice ICIJ), noted that the Coalition is meeting with Republican leadership later this week to gauge their level of interest and support. The Minnesota business community is still stepping up to assist in the reform effort. Regardless of the feasibility of passing legislation, a concentrated grassroots effort will take place this year to build support and increase education on the issue so that the support is there when the time is right. CIJ has hired the Lockridge firm to work on grassroots; they will be holding a grassroots training on December 13 for interested members. Members briefly discussed whether life tenure for judges might be a better option than retention elections, given what happened in the Iowa elections.
Discussion of the MSBA’s Affirmation and judicial elections: Mr. Stowman, Chair of the Judicial Elections Campaign Conduct Committee (JECCC), summarized their efforts this year. The JECCC asked candidates several times to sign the Affirmation of Responsible Judicial Campaign Conduct; monitored contested elections outside of Hennepin and Ramsey county (including reviewing websites and ads), fielded questions from candidates regarding the Affirmation, and sent out a letter to the editor regarding the Affirmation to all media outlets in the 10th judicial district. The JECCC particularly focused on the six contested races where a candidate had Republican party endorsement (no other parties endorsed candidates).
Although the JECCC cannot endorse candidates and has no enforcement power, Committee members had the following suggestions for how the JECCC might be more effective in the future: begin its education of candidates earlier; work on making its website more user friendly for the public and candidates; and rename the Affirmation to something that is more explanatory, such as “Impartiality Pledge.”
Mr. Stowman noted agreement with the suggestion that the website identify those candidates who have signed the pledge, with an explanation/disclaimer that while the pledge is supported and encouraged by the MSBA, the MSBA does not endorse particular candidates, and voters must consider the fact of the pledge signing or lack thereof as just one of many factors for their consideration in deciding who to support.
Judicial Plebiscite Review Subcommittee: Ms. Fujii, Mr. Kaess and Mr. Olander previously volunteered to serve on the Plebiscite Review Subcommittee. Ms. Vasaly has also agreed to serve. Mr. Unger will appoint a chair of the subcommittee.
Future Meetings: The Committee will not meet again until early January, most likely on a Monday at 4:00 p.m.
MSBA Judiciary Committee
Meeting Summary
September 27, 2010
4:00 p.m.
Present: Mike Unger – Chair, Hon. Louise Dovre Bjorkman, Fred Finch, Stacey Fujii, Ryan Kaess, Brett Olander, Brent Routman, Nancy Mischel-MSBA Staff. By phone: Kevin Beck, Steve Besser, Daniel Cragg.
Overview of comments received from Committee members: Mr. Unger had earlier solicited suggestions from members regarding what the committee might work on this year. Some of the suggestions duplicated work that is being done by other MSBA committees or entities, which is why Mr. Unger invited representatives from those committees/entities to discuss their work with the Judiciary Committee.
Coalition for Impartial Justice (CIJ): Mr. Routman serves as President of CIJ, which existed last year as an informal group of organizations supporting judicial election reform. Minnesotans for Impartial Courts, a formal nonprofit started by Gov. Quie, recently changed its name this year to Coalition for Impartial Justice. Members interested in being involved in CIJ’s work or possibly serving on their Board should contact Brent Routman at broutman@merchantgould.com.
Judicial Elections Campaign Conduct Committee (JECCC):
Mr. Olander serves on the JECCC, which monitors judicial campaign conduct in races outside of Hennepin and Ramsey County. The JECCC asks candidates to sign an Affirmation of Responsible Campaign Conduct. The names of those who have and have not signed will be posted on the MSBA website.
Fair Response Committee: Mr. Besser provided members with the history of this Committee, which was formed to respond to unfair media articles regarding judges and judicial decisions. The Committee meets on an as-needed basis.
Judicial Plebiscite Review Subcommittee: MSBA President Terry Votel has requested the Committee review the judicial plebiscite conducted by the MSBA and determine whether it should be continued, and if so, whether any changes should be made the process. In addition, the Committee should consider whether, if it is continued, county attorney races should be added to the plebiscite. Ms. Fujii, Mr. Kaess and Mr. Olander volunteered to serve on the Plebiscite Review Subcommittee. Ms. Mischel will contact Judiciary Committee members who were not present to see if any of them are interested in serving. Mr. Unger will appoint a chair of the subcommittee.
Future Meetings: The Committee will not meet again until late November, most likely on a Monday at 4:00 p.m.
MSBA Judiciary Committee
Meeting Summary
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
12:00 noon
Present: Karna Peters – Chair, Kevin Beck, Senator Don Betzold, Karen Cole, Daniel Cragg, Fred Finch, Steve Giacalone, Joseph Kelly, Jesse Kibort, Mike Unger, Mary Vasaly, Hon. Bruce Willis, Nancy Mischel-MSBA Staff. By phone: Mike Ford, Dana Mitchell, Mike Ryan. Guest: Judge George Perez.
ABA Standing Committee on the Judiciary—Standards for Judicial Disqualification: Since the feedback provided at the Committee’s last meeting, Judge Perez reported that the ABA’s Standing Committee has met and decided two things. (1) A process to handle disqualification issues separately from other motions is needed. This will likely take the form of a model rule or procedure which each state can then choose to enact or not. (2) More attention needs to be paid to peer review issues that have been raised. Judge Perez believes there will not be anything concrete coming from the Standing Committee until the spring.
Judicial Elections Coalition: MSBA leadership has spearheaded two meetings thus far of organizations interested in passing judicial election reform this session, leading to a ballot initiative in the fall of 2010. President Brisbois is hoping the Judiciary Committee can assist this effort in two ways: (1) updating the Committee’s educational materials to reflect support for the retention election bills from last session; (2) increasing the number of speaking engagements made to Rotary and other community groups on the topic and (3) assisting in contacting key legislators as appropriate. Senator Betzold emphasized the importance of talking to legislators now on this topic and not waiting until closer to session when their workload ramps up. Various members volunteered to contact some of the House representatives who sit on the Committees the retention elections bill must travel through. Ms. Peters suggested a conference call for new Committee members interested in assisting with this effort to get them up to speed on using the materials the Committee developed.
Judiciary Committee Public Speaking Materials: Mr. Giacalone and Mr. Cragg volunteered to help create a shorter version of the Committee’s powerpoint. Mr. Kibort and Mr. Beck volunteered to work with a subcommittee of the Judicial Elections Coalition that is identifying source data for information provided in various fact sheets. Ms. Cole volunteered to work on updating the Committee’s two-page handout for the public. Ms. Wolpert and Ms. Flom will also be asked to assist.
Next Meeting: Ms. Mischel will send an email announcing the next meeting date; it will likely be November 11 or 12.
MSBA Judiciary Committee
Meeting Summary
Wednesday, September 17, 2009
10:00 a.m.
Present: Karna Peters – Chair, Hon. Louise Bjorkman – Vice-Chair, Senator Don Betzold, Karen Cole, Fred Finch, Stacey Fujii, Ryan Kaess, Jesse Kibort, Mike Unger, Mary Vasaly, Hon. Bruce Willis, Nancy Mischel-MSBA Staff. By phone: Dyan Ebert, Mike Ford, Representative Steve Simon. Guests: Judge George Perez.
Caperton v. Massey Decision: Ms. Cole provided a summary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in this case. The issue at the Supreme Court level was whether a state Supreme Court Justice’s refusal to recuse himself from hearing a case, where one of the parties had made independent expenditures to organizations that made political contributions in his judicial election campaign, violated due process. In a 5-4 decision, the Court decided it did, even where actual bias on the part of the judge could not be proven. Chief Justice Roberts, in the dissent, pointed out 40 questions he thought were raised by ambiguities in the case.
ABA Standing Committee on the Judiciary—Standards for Judicial Disqualification: Judge Perez provided a brief summary of the draft resolution and report relating to standards for disqualification of judges, which is being prepared by the ABA Standing Committee on the Judiciary for the House of Delegates to consider at the ABA meeting in February. Judge Perez would like to take any suggestions/comments of members back to the Standing Committee for their October 15 meeting. The resolution provides various recommendations for improving judicial disqualification standards, practices and procedures among the States, in order to improve those standards and promote public confidence in the Courts. The Standing Committee was concerned with the appearance of bias to the public, not whether there actually is bias.
Members spent some time discussing the resolution and report. The members discussed the availability of preemptory challenges in Minnesota (an option recommended in the report), both pros and cons, and the difficulty that this and other methods of qualification can sometimes cause in rural areas, where there are fewer judges. In the report, the terms “party” and litigant” seemed to be used interchangeably. Members advised using the term “litigant” for consistency and to avoid any confusion that the word “party” might refer to political parties.
The question was raised whether the MSBA as a whole should adopt a resolution supporting the ABA Committee’s report. Judge Perez agreed to return to our Judiciary Committee after October 15 to provide an update and the Committee can decide at that time whether to make a recommendation to the Assembly.
Outlook for Legislation in 2010: Senator Betzold noted that the retention election bill (authored by Senator Ann Rest and co-authored by Sen. Betzold) made it through two policy committees in the Senate last year. He believes the bill ended up in the Rules Committee, which is a necessary stop for bills involving a constitutional ballot question. Representative Simon indicated that he met with House leadership recently about the retention election bill, which he authored in the House. The House bill was not heard in any Committees last year. Rep. Simon plans to make some changes to the bill; a stumbling block last year was the $500,00 fiscal note attached to the bill.
Next Meeting: The Committee will meet next over the noon hour on a date TBD in the latter half of October.
- Last Updated 11/16/09 -