----- Original Message ----- From: "WizardMarks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "mpls issues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2002 3:16 PM Subject: [Mpls] Judges
> Our system of selecting judges really bothers me. We allow governors to > appoint them after they have been vetted by the MN Bar Association or > some formal organiztion of lawyers. JSK - This is not quite accurate. Judicial candidates are screened to fill vacancies by a Judicial Merit Selection Commission. This is not the bar association. It is a committee of established by law - Minnesota Statute 480B.01. Its members are appointed by the governor and the justices of the Minnesota supreme court. It is not a committee of just lawyers. The statute actualy caps the number of attorneys at just over 50%. The Commission must conduct a selection process, and then submit 3-5 candidates to the governor who then must choose from those candidates. (If there are less than 60 days in the governor's term, he can appoint anyone he wants to fill a vacancy.) This commission was set up in 1990 in response to the governor making appointments that were perceived as based too much on political connections. The new process is supposed to focus more on "merit." This is obviously a subjective term that will be based on the views of the members of the commission. >Having been appointed by whatever > governor, they then become the incumbent at the next election. This is true. A judge has the option of merely not running after his election expires, which would simply result in an open election. With few exceptions, however, judges follow an established tradition of quitting in the middle of their terms so that the governor can appoint a replacement. This tradition use to often be based on party loyalty - a judge would want a governor from his party to get to choose a replacement. This tradition is now based more on the following concepts 1) a judicial position is too sensitive and obscure from public understanding to trust the whims of the electorate; 2) subjecting judicial candidates to open elections will force them to cater to the electorate and various interest groups, and threaten the independence that is needed to render fair decisions to people involved in court cases based on the legal merits of each case. This first reason is definitely elitist and anti-democratic. The second reason has legitimate. Believe it or not, I do not have a definite opinion on this issue. --------------------- > As a > voter, I am now two steps away from being able to choose who I think > would make the better judge. Two gatekeepers have now decided who won't > be a judge. By the time it gets to my vote, any semblance of choice has > been removed from the ballot. That's why I will vote for someone like > O'Neil and Gushwa, both of whom I have worked with in the neighborhoods > of the Third Precinct. I much prefer to assess future candidates by > working with them over a period of time. I prefer choosing someone who > has not been seived through both the bar association and the governor. [snip] > Besides some of the laws which don't address the issues we face here, > I'm leery of judges who drive from the garage of their home to the > garage of the county court house and whose lives outside the courtroom > almost exclusively involve the haves. If the only way a judge has > experience with the have nots is from the bench, he/she has a skewered > picture. > Question - how do you know that Judges Zimmerman and Aldrich have no experience dealing with the have-nots? I agree from my own experience representing poor and low income people that this is a severe problem for many judges who have no idea and could care less about people facing economic adversity. I do NOT believe that this is a problem for either Aldrich or Zimmerman. Do you have knowledge that these judges have a "skewered picture" or are you just assuming so because you know their opponents? Observation - It is interesting that Wizard has decided that Judd Gushwa is sensitive to the needs of the SOuth Minneapolis community because of his background as a police officer. I think it is fair to relate a personal conversation that I had with Judd because he is now running for public office, and I believe it reflects views that are relevant to this important and powerful position: A few years ago, I told Judd how i was stopped and searched by police on Franklin and Park Avenues after riding my bicycle through a red light because it was a CODEFOR neighborhood. Judd's response was, "The first thing I want to know is what were you doing in that neighborhood?" I responded, "I live near there." [I lived in Stevens Square at the time]. Judd responded, "That's too bad." > An aside: Jordan Kushner--give me the particulars (case number, date, > etc.) on three trials argued in court by Judge Zimmerman. Bet you can't > do it. The time to do such research is beyond the scope of my job description. I do personally of more than three cases that Lloyd Zimmerman handled as an EEOC attorney. A very small percentage of employment discrimination cases go to trial Similarly, a very small percentage of misdemeanor cases in Minneapolis go to trial, and many city attorneys rarely, if ever, try cases. Can you name give me the particulars of any trials handled by Julie Delgado O'Neill? Jordan Kushner Golden Valley > > WizardMarks, Central > > > _______________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
