Our Independent Judiciary Is Being Attacked

• Publication year: 2004
• Pages: 25

33 Colo.Law. 25 Colorado Lawyer 2004.

2004, March, Pg. 25. Our Independent Judiciary Is Being Attacked

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25

Vol. 33, No. 3, Pg. 25

The Colorado Lawyer
March 2004
Vol. 33, No. 3 [Page 25]

Features
CBA President's Message to Members
Our Independent Judiciary Is Being Attacked
by Robert J. Truhlar, Doris B. Truhlar

Robert J. Truhlar is President of the Colorado Bar Association; Doris B. Truhlar is President of the Arapahoe County Bar Association

We have a friend who lives in a state where judges are elected. He tells us that he has managed the campaigns of several judges. When a judge calls to request that an attorney manage her or his campaign, it is impossible to turn down the judge - it would be foolish to refuse a request from a judge who may make decisions on your cases. Additionally our friend says that Colorado is the envy of other states because of its judicial merit selection system. In his state contributions are often made to judges by attorneys who appear in front of these same judges, as well as by parties who have cases that are heard by these judges.

We also know of a situation in another state in which judges are elected, where the judges complain about the rigorous fundraising responsibilities that they have to undertake to be elected initially and to return to office every few years. A system in which judges are elected is no fun for the judges or the attorneys. More important, it is unfair to the public. It cannot foster trust in the legal system.

Judiciary Under Attack

We raise this issue because our independent judicial system is under attack during the current legislative session. There even has been discussion that Colorado should return to its pre-19661 system of electing judges. What a horrible thought! For example, in an e-mail to his followers, State Senator John Andrews wrote on January 17, 2004:

Thank you for offering to write the local papers occasionally. . . . Here's our first such opportunity for the new year. . . . I and others are calling for judicial reform in Colorado this year. . . . Areas of focus range from the selection and appointment and confirmation process, to the performance evaluations and retention elections, to a term limit like those already in place for the executive and legislative branches, to an elective judiciary like we had before 1966 - and which many other states still have.2

As...