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Thursday, November 17, 2005

Courts - More on "Judges in South Dakota may lose immunity"

Updating this ILB entry from Nov. 14th, the Sacramento Bee reports today:

An initiative providing for the ouster and criminal indictment of judges who make bad decisions appears headed for a test vote in South Dakota next year and, if it succeeds there, will be attempted in other states, sponsors of the measure said this week.

The Southern California-based sponsors of the Judicial Accountability Initiative Law (JAIL) have taken aim at what they call "black-collar crime" across the country. They already have their sights set on the 2006 ballot in Nevada, and they report related efforts in Idaho and New Mexico. * * *

The South Dakota initiative would create a special grand jury to hear complaints against judges based on an open-ended list of possible grievances. The list specifically includes not only crimes such as graft but certain flaws in reasoning, such as ignoring evidence and "sophistry."

The grand jury would have power to set aside judges' immunity from civil suits by the people they rule against. It also could levy fines or hand down indictments, subjecting judges to criminal proceedings before special trial juries with the power to sentence as well as convict. After three missteps, a judge would be disqualified from holding office. * * *

The campaign also has begun drawing the attention of leading jurists.

In a speech this week, California Chief Justice Ronald George described it as a threat to judicial independence.

He said later that California has an "outstanding and impartial" judiciary and doesn't need "extremists telling us how to change a system that has served us so well and to substitute ... a highly politicized system for the impartial process that we enjoy."

Missouri Chief Justice Michael Wolff, in a September speech to his state's judges and lawyers, also commented on the South Dakota campaign, noting "there is an organization contemplating a similar effort right here."

The organization claims to be active in varying degrees in all 50 states, although not all have the initiative process. It's been on the political scene for almost a decade.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 17, 2005 02:48 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts