Texas Chief Justice Headlines Gathering Of Legal Experts, Urges Reform Of North Carolina's Judicial Election System 7/3/2002
From: Jesse Rutledge of the NC Center for Voter Education, 919-839-1200; http://www.ncvotered.com RALEIGH, N.C., July 3 -- Pointing to his own home state of Texas as an example of how money and politics can threaten the public's faith in the judiciary, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips urged a gathering of about 100 attorneys, judges, legislators and members of the general public to adopt judicial campaign reform in North Carolina. Phillips was the featured guest at a panel discussion on judicial independence in Raleigh on July 2nd organized by the NC Center for Voter Education. "It seems to me that North Carolina and Texas got left behind at the last sweep of great reform. But we may be on the verge of the next train, and maybe we can take that one," Phillips said. Phillips was joined on the panel by A.P. Carlton, a Raleigh lawyer who becomes President of the American Bar Association (ABA) next month; Burley Mitchell, the former Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court; and Gene Nichol, Dean of the University of North Carolina Law School. The ABA's Carlton, who served as moderator of the panel, has vowed to make efforts to protect judicial independence the defining issue of his term as president of the association. "We are facing a looming crisis of public trust and confidence in our judicial system," Carlton said. "We deserve a 21st century judiciary that is impartial, fair, accountable and independent in perception as well as fact," Carlton stated. "We've seen the public's increasing concern with the perceived impropriety of accepting campaign contributions from those most interested in judicial outcomes," Carlton noted, alluding to a recent poll conducted by the Center for Voter Education that showed 78 percent of North Carolina voters believe that campaign contributions to judges influence courtroom decisions. Nichol, the UNC law school dean, began his remarks by noting that the pressures of money, politics and public opinion all cast potential shadows on judicial independence. He pointed to the recent ruling on the redistricting case in which the seven justices of the Supreme Court split exactly along partisan lines. "Many folks in North Carolina believe that the five to two redistricting decision of the North Carolina Supreme Court was partisan in nature," Nichol said. Nichol said this decision, and others that are divided along partisan lines, heighten the perception that judges are making decisions that are not solely based on facts and the law. The panelists discussed past efforts at reform, as well as current solutions being debated by the legislature. "We have tried for some time to go to an appointed system...without success. I think we can safely say that it is not going to happen. We've passed our window of opportunity," noted former chief justice Mitchell. "We can really salvage our (judiciary) system if we can go to a non-partisan system throughout and if we can control money on a voluntary basis by inducing judges to accept some form of public money in exchange for raising it generally. This will stabilize our judiciary." A proposal for reform, passed last fall by the NC State Senate, would retain a system of popular elections for appellate level judges. However, the proposal would provide for a voluntary public financing option for qualified candidates; make appellate level judicial elections non-partisan; and provide a voters pamphlet, similar to those used in many other states, to better inform voters about the candidates for judgeships. Texas' Chief Justice Phillips noted that North Carolina's efforts have been drawing national attention: "You all are on the vanguard of a new wave (of reform)," Phillips commented. "I think you're on the cusp of something exciting and new." The panel discussion was sponsored by the North Carolina Center for Voter Education, a non-partisan organization that is seeking to improve the state's judicial selection system. In addition to organizing meetings and discussions around the state, the Center has been active in promoting reform through public opinion research and advertising campaigns. --- The text of this press release is available in digital format on the Center for Voter Education's Web site, http://www.ncvotered.com. Photographs from the event are also on the site, in the "Photo Archives" subsection of the "Video & Multimedia" section. |