By Adrienne Meiring, Counsel, Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications Judges and judicial candidates necessarily must forge professional and social relationships with attorneys, business leaders, and public officials to become judges and to effectively improve the legal system. Questions sometimes emerge whether these contacts create an appearance of partiality when an attorney or party who supported a judge … [Read more...] about Judicial Selection & Disqualification
Judicial Selection
Indiana Merit Selection and the “Missouri Plan”
Nationwide, selection of appellate judges typically occurs in one of three ways: contested election, political appointment, or merit selection. The “Missouri Plan,” as merit selection is sometimes referred to, first emerged in 1940 when prominent Missouri citizens1 sought to change the way their judges were selected because of perceived abuses/weaknesses with the other means of selection. Id. Their proposal was the Mi … [Read more...] about Indiana Merit Selection and the “Missouri Plan”
Mark Massa: 107th Indiana Supreme Court Justice
The Hon. Mark Massa, formerly the Executive Director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, took the oath of office as Indiana’s 107th Justice on April 2, 2012. The private oath was administered by former Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, who is now a Senior Judge for the Indiana Court of Appeals. A public, formal swearing-in ceremony will be held on May 7, 2012. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels named Justice Massa … [Read more...] about Mark Massa: 107th Indiana Supreme Court Justice
Supreme Court Welcomes Justice Steven David
On a bright, sunny Monday with fall in the air, the Indiana Supreme Court Justices welcomed as the court’s newest member former Boone County Circuit Court Judge, Steven David. The one-hour ceremony included remarks by Governor Mitch Daniels and Chief Justice Shepard. The Governor administered the oath of office to Judge David while his wife, Catheryne Pully, held the Bible on which he placed his hand. Justice David b … [Read more...] about Supreme Court Welcomes Justice Steven David
The Role of the Judicial Nominating Commission in Judicial Selection
With the upcoming vacancy resulting from Justice Theodore R. Boehm’s decision to step down from the Indiana Supreme Court, there exists a renewed interest about how justices are selected to our state’s highest court. In particular, many questions have been posed about the role of the Judicial Nominating Commission in Indiana’s selection process. Given this increased attention, I decided to set aside my usual discuss … [Read more...] about The Role of the Judicial Nominating Commission in Judicial Selection