Making an educated vote on sitting judges is nearly impossible. Voters need the useful information we care about in terms we can understand when voting for a judge’s retention, and right now we are not getting it. I applaud the efforts of the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) for working to provide voters with meatier information as we review the daunting list of judges up for retention this November.The "Judicial Performance Review" provided by the AZ Secretary of State is inadequate at best and laughable at worst. This is very sad considering the hard work of 13,000 people used to create a voter information guide that is not helpful to voters. The performance review generally confirms what most voters assume based upon their hiring: a sitting judge is "qualified" for their position in terms of legal ability, integrity, communication skills, temperament, and administration.However, what voters want to know is whether or not a certain judge made or agrees with decisions that end up on national television like giving a child rapist probation, revoking parental consent for abortions, or other decisions that are/are not in step with societal consciousness. The problem as evidenced in the abysmal response to the voter-friendly, CAP survey by the judges is their need to appear fair and impartial.Most judges are rightfully afraid of having labels like "for/against abortion" or "activist" or "pawn of the government". The voters’ need for information versus a judge’s requirement to deal with the facts as presented in individual cases real quandary for which I have no immediate solution.My general suggestion would be for the AZ Commission to revamp the Judicial Performance Review to somehow categorize the types of cases before the judges and then indicate the rulings and categorized sentences imposed by a judge. Then we the voters can decide whether he / she are indeed "qualified".
One CommentLeave a Reply |
Tanya,
I came across some of the Judges that were suggested as a yes vote.
If you’re interested they are:
The Honorable - Robert Budoff, Edward O. Burke, Pendleton Gaines, Warren J. Granville, Jeffrey A. Hotham, Michael D. Jones, Kenneth Mangum, Michael O. Wilkinson, Maurice Portley, Alfred Fenzel, and Brian K. Ishidawa.
These are Judges I’m voting for.
Nice article!
Sharon