Litigation

Brandenburg: ?Lay off Sandra Day O?Connor?

By Peter Hardin

Detractors of retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor have attacked her in a “drive-by political hit,” but it won’t silence her advocacy for a better way to pick states judges than through elections, Justice at Stake Executive Director Bert Brandenburg writes today in a Slate commentary.

“The immediate goal is to shut her up. The broader goals are more ominous,” Brandenburg says about critics’ questioning of Justice O’Connor’s role since a telemarketing mistake recently dialed robocalls to 50,000 homes in Nevada at 1 a.m.

The calls included a recording of Justice O’Connor supporting a vote for merit-based selection of judges and high court justices in Nevada. The retired Supreme Court justice apologized and said she did not authorize use of the recording (see Gavel Grab).

Brandenburg writes that relevant federal ethics rules “explicitly permit and encourage involvement in activities concerning the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice.”

He goes further to decry a “new wave of high-stakes judge-phobia,” including an impeachment threat against Chief Justice John Roberts.  Brandenburg concludes:

“Sandra Day O?Connor will be fine.  Her reputation for toughness and honesty is too strong for a drive-by political hit to tear her down. This episode ought to give her more reason to warn how politics is undermining the rule of law.

“To be sure, judges who speak up have to walk a fine line and be ready to consider recusing themselves when a case overlaps with a cause. The real concern here, however,  is intimidation. We need judges in our public debates, because no on else can tell us what?s going on from the inside of the courts.

“In fact, the political mugging of Justice O’Connor reinforces how hardball politics can undermine efforts to conduct a substantive debate over selecting judges.”

Justice O’Connor has traveled around the country to promote her civics concerns. She has made a top priority of promoting merit selection/retention election-based systems for choosing state judges, while voicing concern about the threat  posed by rising special interest group spending in judicial campaigns (see Gavel Grab). She also has continued to hear cases as a part-time federal appeals judge.

Full post as published by The Gavel on October 29, 2010 (boomark / email).