Missouri's judicial selection process is in need of reform
Missouri Plan - Changing to elected judges would put the people in charge of their courts.
By James Harris
The Missouri Plan does not serve the people of our state. It should be renamed the Lawyers' Plan as it serves wealthy attorneys well but puts many Missourians at a disadvantage when they walk into a court room against an attorney who helped appoint the judge.
Unfortunately, personal injury attorneys have used their dominance of the current process to shape the courts for their own financial gain-selecting judges based not upon merit but upon their support for a lawsuit-heavy legal climate.
Currently in Missouri our state high court judges are selected not by the people, but through a commission where lawyers and a judge out number average citizens. The current commission meets behind closed doors, preventing the public from knowing how they pick our future judges. Readers should be concerned when one small fringe group like personal injury attorneys game the system to select judges.
ShowMe Better Courts Submits Signatures
Citizen Effort to Restore Openness and Accountability to Missouri's Courts Moves Forward
(Jefferson City, MO) - ShowMe Better Courts submitted signatures to the Secretary of State on May 2, 2010.
"I would like to give a special thanks to Congressman Luetkemeyer, Senators Lembke and Lager, and several members of the Missouri House for adding their names to our petition. I appreciate the overwhelming support we received from Missourians as part of our effort to return openness and accountability to Missouri's courts. Our success shows how much the people of Missouri want a voice in choosing judges - to collect this many signatures is astounding, especially when you factor in frivolous lawsuits and a voter suppression campaign designed to slow down the process and discourage participation," said James Harris.
He continued, "The tone of the opposition has made it clear that greedy trial attorneys in St. Louis and Kansas City are fearful of losing their stranglehold on the judicial selection process. Many of the most vigorous opponents of reform are doing so simply because they will lose money if they are no longer allowed sole control of the selection process. Returning openness and accountability to Missouri's courts will lead to a fair and impartial judiciary where every Missourian has access to justice. With reform, the people will finally have access to a better judiciary."
Pro change: All Missouri judges should be elected
By James Harris, Special to the Beacon
Posted 11:37 a.m. Tues., 02.16.10 - Judges are an extremely important part of our system of government – we have entrusted them with the authority to decide cases that intimately and profoundly affect our lives. The decisions they make affect our fundamental rights, like the right to equal protection of the law and the right to criticize our government. Judges can make the difference between a stable and predictable economic climate or one where good family-supporting jobs are moving to other regions.
It is therefore critical that Missouri’s judicial branch be committed to openness, independence, accountability and excellence. The only way to do that is to ensure that the process for choosing Missouri’s judges is ethical and committed to the same ideals.
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ShowMe Better Courts Files Ethics Complaint Against Missouri Bar for Campaign Finance Violations
James Harris, executive director of ShowMe Better Courts, has announced his decision to file an official complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission regarding the Missouri Bar's failure to comply with campaign finance disclosure laws.
"Today I filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission against the Missouri Bar Association for their failure to properly report their political activities with the Missouri Ethics Commission. It is unfortunate that this action was necessary. No group is above the law and the law is clear that organizations or individuals who engage in political activity to influence the electorate have disclosure and reporting requirements associated with that activity." said James Harris, executive director of ShowMe Better Courts.
The Case for Electing Judges
by James Harris
March 25, 2010 06:00 AM
There is a problem with Missouri's Nonpartisan Court Plan. Wealthy and well-connected lawyers, particularly those who are members of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, are allowed carte-blanche access to the selection process while ordinary citizens are shut out by a commission that meets behind closed doors. These lawyers get to have a tremendous influence on who is nominated for openings on our highest courts, but they do not make their selections based on intellectual capability or judicial integrity. Instead, nominees are chosen based on political friendships as well as ideological and financial considerations. This system no longer serves all of Missouri, just a small and very privileged portion of the legal industry.