Leaders in National Effort to Improve Judicial Selection Methods Nationwide to Speak at CJI Event
CJI is honored to welcome former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Love Kourlis, currently executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, and Theresa Spahn, director of the O’Connor Judicial Selection Initiative, as guest speakers at the 4th Annual Judicial Independence Membership Breakfast.
Since founding the Institute at the University of Denver in 2006, Kourlis has devoted her career to improving the independence, efficiency, effectiveness and public understanding of the legal system. As a state judge, Kourlis worked within a system that prioritized citizen involvement, selection based upon merit, independent evaluation and provided for accountability to the voting public through retention elections. A great supporter of judicial merit selection, Kourlis has worked to establish and improve merit selection programs nationwide. In addition to judicial selection efforts, the IAALS works on issues of transparency, civil justice reform, caseflow management, and domestic relations.
Theresa Spahn recently became the executive director of the O’Connor Judicial Selection Initiative at the Institute. The initiative is working to accelerate efforts to reform systems that choose judges through direct election nationwide. Currently, thirty-three states elect some portion of their judges. In recent years judicial elections have been tarnished by multi-million dollar campaigns and outrageous attack ads. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in a speech given at Georgetown Law School, decried the growing public perception that judges are merely politicians in robes. Spahn is working closely with a campaign in Nevada that has succeeded in placing a question on the Nevada November ballot that, if approved, will establish a merit selection system.
Kourlis and Spahn will deliver remarks entitled “Citizen Involvement and Transparency in Judicial Selection and Retention: Why is it Critical to Maintaining Fair and Impartial Courts?”
The breakfast is complimentary, but reservations are required. The breakfast will be held on Thursday, March 18th at 7:30am at the University Club in Denver. If you would like more information on the breakfast or to register, please visit the Judicial Independence Breakfast page.
High Court Ruling Proves Need to Choose Judges by Merit
The January 21st U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates for corporate and labor union contributions to political campaigns only underscores the wisdom – and growing necessity – for the kind of judicial merit selection systems in place in Colorado, Bob Miller, chair of the Colorado Judicial Institute, said Monday.
Miller, former U. S. Attorney for Colorado, pointed to another high court ruling – last June’s Caperton decision – as evidence that runaway campaign spending in states that still elect their judges in contested elections can undermine public confidence in the courts. Read more here.
Public Education Program OUR COURTS Wins National Honor
The Our Courts public education program, a joint program of the Colroado Bar Association and CJI, has been awarded the American Bar Association's 2010 Burnham "Hod" Greeley Award.
The award recognizes extraordinary outreach efforts that show the public the need for a fair and impartial judiciary. Judges evaluated the nominations for significant, positive impacts on public understanding of the role of the judiciary in a democratic society and for ability to convey the importance of the judiciary’s role in the rule of law. The award is named in honor of the late Hawaii attorney Burnham “Hod” Greeley, a dedicated ABA leader who was committed to promoting public trust and confidence in our justice system.
The award was presented on February 5th at the ABA annual mid-year meeting in Orlando, Florida.
Click here for more information on this prestigious award.
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