Quick, name the most recent Marion County judge you voted for! Can’t do it? Don’t feel bad. A lot of people can’t. And that’s just one of the reasons legislation that would change Marion County’s judicial selection system from elected to appointed is a good idea.
The Indiana Senate will soon take up HB 1036, which would eliminate the current judicial election process (which was found unconstitutional by the courts) and replace it with what’s called “merit-based” selection. In other words, the best candidates for the job would be picked. Now, opponents of this say HB 1036 would take power away from Marion County voters. Well, here’s a newsflash: under the old system, Marion County voters didn’t have much say in the process.
Under the prior system, Republicans and Democrats would get together at their respective county conventions and “slate” judges. In other words, the party insiders and precinct committeemen would vote on who would get the party backing in the primary. Of course, to participate in slating, you had to pay a slating fee, which was usually 10 percent of the salary of the office you were trying to get. Now, take note: before the convention, you ran around to every rubber chicken and peas dinner to beg precinct committeemen and insiders for their support. And if someone asked you how you would rule on a certain case, you couldn’t tell them, because that would be violating judicial ethics.
Annoyed yet? Wait, there’s more.
Under the old system, there were only 28 spots to fill. Republicans got 14 and Democrats got 14, so if you won the primary, you won the general election. And to make life even more interesting, most people don’t vote in primaries, because they don’t want to pick a political party, so now only a handful of party insiders are choosing the people who will oversee the judicial process for the other 900,000-plus people.
“But Abdul, doesn’t a merit system fundamentally do the same thing?” Yes, but I’ve never believed judges should be elected in the first place. In fact, according to the website justiceatstake.org, judicial appointments date back to the birth of the Republic. Judges in all original 13 states and the federal government were appointed.
Today, 24 states, including Indiana, use some type of nominating panel to fill Supreme Court seats. Once appointed, judges periodically face voters in one-candidate “retention” elections, in which the public votes on whether to grant another term. So it’s not like merit selection is a foreign concept.
HB 1036 would establish at 14-member Marion County judicial selection committee. Four of the commission members would be appointed by Indiana House and Senate leaders from both parties. The Marion County Democratic and Republican parties would each appoint two members, one of whom must be a minority or a woman, or both. The Indianapolis Bar Association, Marion County Bar Association, Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana and the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association would each appoint one member. One judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals and one Indiana Supreme Court justice would round out the committee. No more than 52 percent of the committee members may be of the same political party.
The current 36 Marion County judges would be split into three retention classes based on judicial seniority. The first class of 12 judges would be up for retention elections on the 2020 ballot; the second class on the 2022 ballot; and the final class on the 2024 ballot. After their election, each judge who is retained would serve a six-year term. The bill also mandates that the Commission must take into account whether the judicial candidate reflects the diversity and makeup of Marion County.
And you need nine out of the 14 votes to get selected, so no one party can dominate the courts.
This may seem complicated, but it isn’t; it’s a thoughtful process to get quality judges on the bench and to comply with the courts that found the old system unconstitutional. If you object, get ready to find yourself overruled.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is an attorney, political commentator and publisher of IndyPolitics.org. You can email comments to him at abdul@indypolitics.org.
