RATING THE JUDGES

The Missouri Bar's rating of merit-selected judges prior to the Nov. 5 elections provides a needed service to Missouri voters. Other than the few people who ever come in contact with the Missouri Supreme Court or the Missouri Court of Appeals, Missouri voters have no way of knowing whether the judges are doing a good job and should be retained.

The bar asked lawyers in the state to critique each of the judges whose terms expire this year. The critiques were done anonymously so that the lawyers could give honest appraisals.

Lawyers expressed their opinions on judges in Missouri's Eastern District: Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ronnie L. White, 44, St. Louis; and Appellate Judges William H. Crandall Jr., Robert G. Dowd Jr., Kent E. Karohl and Mary Rhodes Russell. St. Louis and counties south, including Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties, fall into the Eastern District. Voters in those counties will vote next month either yes or no on retaining the judges.

All of the judges in the Eastern District received high marks in courtesy, fairness, clarity, integrity and legal analysis by more than 700 Missouri lawyers. Lawyers from the district gave judges ratings from 1 to 5 in those categories, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent. All of the voting lawyers recommended retaining all of the Eastern District judges.

The bar said past surveys showed that most voters have little knowledge about their state judges. They surveys showed about 40 percent of those who cast ballots in judicial elections had no information about the judges. The actual percentage of voters who recognize the names of merit judges, much less anything about them, probably is far lower than that. The bar conducts the survey as a public service so that voters have some idea of whether the judges are performing acceptably.