MARCIA MOREY: Systematic attack on state court's independence
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017 -- Bill by bill, Republican legislators ultimately passed numerous laws that served to undermine justice and politicize the judiciary, a branch of our government that has been enshrined in impartiality and a commitment to fairness since our nation's founding.
Posted — UpdatedAfter 18 years serving the public in Durham as a judge, I left the bench in April and took a giant leap into the lion’s den of the legislature. While I understood that my new role as a member of the N.C. House would be in a highly charged political environment compared to my nonpartisan role as a judge, I did not anticipate this year’s systematic attack on the independence of North Carolina’s judiciary.
Bill by bill, Republican legislators ultimately passed numerous laws that served to undermine justice and politicize the judiciary, a branch of our government that has been enshrined in impartiality and a commitment to fairness since our nation’s founding.
With the Canons of Judicial Ethics prohibiting judges from talking about issues that may come before them, how are judges and candidates now going to campaign when identified by party affiliation and a party platform that may or not be pro life, pro gun control or anti LGBT rights? Judges should not stake themselves out on political ideology but rule on facts of a case and the applicable law. Historically nonpartisan judicial races have served us well.
Equally troublesome will be the impact of special interest money that is sure to pour into partisan judicial campaigns and the fact that candidates who are unaffiliated won’t be able to get their names on the ballot until they gather and verify thousands of signatures of registered voters.
(So if you get arrested for panhandling for $1, be prepared to pay $180 court costs you don’t have or wait two weeks and come back to court to see if a governmental agency objects to the judge waiving the fee! With tens of thousands of criminal and traffic court cases heard everyday across the state, the work of the courts could grind to a halt.)
This means incumbent, experienced judges will be forced to run against each other. Newly drawn open seats will be a feeding frenzy for inexperienced lawyers, and in some cases Superior Court judges will drive over 440 miles roundtrip to a courtroom. Countywide elections in urban districts will be split where voters will have no ability to vote for judges who have jurisdiction over them.
When Burr was asked if judges, the State Bar or the Administrative Office of the Courts or law schools had been consulted about his redistricting plan in the committee meeting, he responded: “No, I am the legislator. I make the laws.” (HB 717 was passed in committee along partisan lines but pulled from the House calendar for a final vote.)
North Carolina must have a strong, independent judiciary. I agree that a comprehensive evaluation of judicial districts needs to be done and other nonpolitical models of selecting judges should be considered like “merit/retention” used in other states.
But until there is a deliberative, inclusive process, that involves lawyers, judges, law schools and lawmakers and especially the public, transforming our system of justice should not be done by a partisan rush job. The answer is a careful study of workloads and resources and access to justice.
Politicians and politics should not trump justice as is happening now. As Nancy McLean wrote in her book, “Democracy in Chains,” there is a judicial revolution in this country that is being fueled by large donors donating to legislators and targeting judges: “Lose the courts, lose the war.”
Justice cannot lose this war.
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