Missouri plan is model

By C. Ronald Baird

If you ever find yourself in a courtroom, I know exactly what you will expect: a fair and impartial judge who will make a decision based on the facts of the case and the applicable law. It is extremely important that our system for selecting and electing or retaining judges provides our state with judicial candidates who can meet that expectation.

In a recent op-ed in the Southeast Missourian, Thomas M. Walsh and William G. Eckhardt advocated changes in the way Missouri selects judges appointed under its nonpartisan court plan. The Missouri Bar is a strong supporter of our state's nonpartisan court plan, which has become a model for the nation.

Although a discussion of ways to improve the selection and election of judges can be helpful, the changes that Mr. Walsh and Mr. Eckhardt recommend would not build a better court system and would, instead, increase the role of politics in the judicial selection process.

Missouri's court system balances contested political elections with nonpartisan appointment of judges. If you have a case in state court in Cape Girardeau, it will be heard by a judge who was not appointed under the nonpartisan Court Plan. In Cape Girardeau, trial-level judges are elected in contested, partisan elections, but their decisions, if appealed, are reviewed for error by the Missouri Court of Appeals-Eastern District and possibly the Missouri Supreme Court. All Missouri's appellate judges are selected under the nonpartisan court plan, as are trial judges in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas.

The Missouri nonpartisan court plan was developed more than 60 years ago to reduce the role of politics in the selection and retention of judges. It has a proven and uncontested history of doing just that. It allows just enough politics to ensure that the governor has the final word, but it also ensures that the selection process puts the emphasis on merit and judicial skills.

Because Judge Ronnie White of the Missouri Supreme Court has retired, the governor will soon have a chance to appoint a new judge to that court. The governor will select one of three candidates whose names have been forwarded to him by an appellate commission. This commission will carefully screen all candidates, evaluating their skills, background, character, personality traits and legal knowledge. The composition of the commission provides for input from the public, from lawyers and from the chief justice. Three of the commission members are lawyers, elected by members of the Missouri Bar. Three are nonlawyers, appointed in staggered terms by various governors. And the seventh member is the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

As with all personnel decisions, the actual evaluation of candidates is a confidential process. But the record of the newly appointed judge and his or her performance evaluation soon become a public matter.

All judges selected by the governor under this plan must go before the voters in a retention election after their first 12 months in office. To be retained, each judge must receive a majority vote. A similar retention election occurs at the end of each term of office. If a judge does not receive a majority of votes, his or her judicial office will become vacant at the end of its present term. As a way of ensuring that voters have a reliable source of information about nonpartisan judges, The Missouri Bar conducts a judicial evaluation of each judge who will be on the ballot. The results are made public and distributed widely.

The truth about Missouri's nonpartisan court plan can't be determined by reading arguments that are for it or against it. The truth is determined every day: every time someone depends on our state courts to resolve a dispute or to determine someone's guilt or innocence.

It has been my experience, and the experience of countless other Missourians, that the courts meet our expectations of providing fair and impartial justice. For more than 60 years, the nonpartisan court plan has done exactly what we expected, recognizing the role of politics in judicial selection but keeping it in check.

C. Ronald Baird of Springfield, Mo., is president of the Missouri Bar.