USING JUDGES FOR POLITICS

Previous editorials of the Southeast Missourian have taken a dim view of Amendment 7, the proposal known as Hancock II, which Missourians will see on the November ballot. Those editorials have supported the right of Missourians to vote on major tax increases and will continue to fight for this right when that simple principle is at stake.

In the case of Amendment 7, however, this simple issue is clouded by the poor job of drafting performed by its authors. When it is the constitution that will be amended by such a provision, poor drafting is very nearly impossible to fix.

That said, it is worth pausing to note that an important principle was violated by Gov. Mel Carnahan in his effort to defeat Amendment 7. Late last month, Gov. Carnahan spoke to a group of judges from across the state. In his remarks, the governor decried Amendment 7 and exhorted the judges to work against it, persuading Missourians to oppose the ballot measure. And this, at a time when there are no fewer than three lawsuits in Missouri courts contesting various issues arising out of the same proposed amendment.

In this, the Gov. Carnahan displayed extraordinarily bad judgment. Missourians of all persuasions should be alarmed when high government officials begin exhorting judges to work against a ballot proposition, when that very proposition is the subject of lawsuits in the courts of the state. All litigants have a right to expect impartiality in fact from those we charge with administering justice. Shame on Gov. Carnahan, who is, after all, a lawyer, and who should have known better.