Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
02/10/2021 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Covid-19 Disaster Declarations, Extensions | |
| SB14 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 14 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 14-SELECTION AND REVIEW OF JUDGES
2:49:17 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD announced consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 14,
"An Act relating to the selection and retention of judicial
officers for the court of appeals and the district court and of
magistrates; relating to the duties of the judicial council;
relating to the duties of the Commission on Judicial Conduct;
and relating to retention or rejection of a judicial officer."
2:49:12 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD opened public testimony on SB 14.
2:49:36 PM
ELEANOR ANDREWS, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, said she
previously served for seven years on the Alaska Judicial
Council. She offered her view that the judicial selection
process is not broken. She emphasized that judges are not being
charged with illegal activities, challenged for lack of legal
rigor, or accused of crimes. She offered to provide written
comments.
2:50:41 PM
to SB 14, because it would politicize judicial appointments in
Alaska. She emphasized the importance of selecting the most
qualified candidates as determined by the Alaska Judicial
Council rather than to allow the governor to appoint any lawyer
who has practiced in Alaska for a few years. She questioned
Governor Dunleavy's past attorney general choices and said the
governor is not always a good judge of character or fitness for
judicial appointments. Alaska's Constitution created a good
merit-based system for selecting and retaining judges. This is
why a separate mechanism ensures that judicial appointments are
made based on merit rather than politics.
2:52:20 PM
SERENE O'HARA-JOLLEY, representing self, Fairbanks, Alaska,
spoke in opposition to SB 14. She said Alaska's judicial and
retention system is not broken. She stated that a nonpartisan
peer recommendation process provides an important separation of
powers. She mentioned Senator Meyers' campaign promise not to
get caught up in the power aspects of government. He also talked
about the problems associated with expanding government. She
opined that SB 14 is about expanding government into a process
that is working and infringes on the separation of powers.
Allowing the legislative branch to select judges would expand
the government's reach and allow ideology into the selection
process.
2:54:11 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD cautioned testifiers to refrain from attacking
individual legislators.
2:54:22 PM
ROBIN SMITH, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, spoke in
opposition to SB 14 because it would interject politics into the
process of selecting judges. The framers of Alaska's
Constitution benefitted from reviewing other states'
constitutions. The Alaska Constitution creates a process to
select and retain impartial, high-quality judges to remove a
judge through a vote. According to the Brennan Center for
Justice, the judicial selection process has become increasingly
politicized. The judicial branch provides an important check on
the other two branches of government. SB 14 would politicize the
process.
2:56:37 PM
MICHAEL GARVEY, Advocacy Director, American Civil Liberties
Union of Alaska (ACLU), Anchorage, Alaska, stated that the ACLU
protects the civil rights and individual liberties enshrined in
the US Constitution and the Alaska Constitution. The Alaska
Constitution created a judicial system based on merit and
independence. He said the Alaska Judicial Council is central to
carrying out these values.
MR.GARVEY expressed concern that SB 14 would increase the
influence of politics on Alaska's courts and undermine the
state's long-revered merit selection system. The bill would
allow the governor to appoint judges who the Alaska Judicial
Council does not nominate as the most qualified, require
legislative confirmation of these appointees, force Alaska
Judicial Council nominees to pass an ideological litmus test and
put the Commission on Judicial Conduct in charge of providing
recommendations for retention elections rather than the Alaska
Judicial Council, which already considers the commission's work.
It is clear that SB 14 would increase the influence of politics
on the courts were it to pass so that judicial openings would be
based on the confirmation process rather than who is most
qualified.
MR. GARVEY said the practical effect of SB 14 would be to weaken
the performance of the state's judiciary while opening the
system to the influence of the governor's office and the
legislature.
2:58:55 PM
LYNETTE PHAM, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, spoke in
opposition to SB 14. This bill would give the governor more
power, she said. She stated that judges should be selected based
on their legal qualifications, fairness, and experience. She
urged members to vote no on SB 14.
2:59:54 PM
BOB GROSECLOSE, Attorney, Fairbanks, Alaska, stated that he
served on the Alaska Judicial Council (AJC) for a six-year term
ending in 2006. He has also served a three-year term on the
Commission on Judicial Conduct. He said this bill would
politicize the judicial selection and retention system that has
worked well. The framers of the Alaska Constitution developed a
system to ensure an independent judiciary. The AJC screens
applicants. He urged members to reject SB 14 because it does not
further the design of the constitution and it would impede the
state's ability to maintain and preserve an independent
judiciary.
3:01:29 PM
JAY SMITH, self, Eagle River, Alaska, testified on the
coronavirus but gave no testimony on SB 14.
3:03:34 PM
JIM MINNERY, Executive Director, Alaska Family Council,
Anchorage, Alaska, urged members to support SB 14. He stated
that the council believes that involving the executive and
legislative branches in judicial selection would help promote a
more accountable judiciary and enhance public confidence in
Alaska's court system. The existing judicial selection process
places too much authority in the Alaska Judicial Council, which
is dominated by members of the Alaska Bar Association (ABA). The
ABA is a professional guild with 2,300 active members
representing less than one percent of the state's population,
yet four of the seven council seats are held by its members. He
said the consultants to the convention committee on the
judiciary warned about this. He read an excerpt from Vic
Fisher's book, Alaska's Constitutional Convention, as follows:
These sections in particular, however, go a long way
toward withdrawing the judicial branch from the
control of the people of this state and placing it
under that of the organized bar. No state constitution
has ever gone this far in placing one of the three
coordinate branches of the government beyond the reach
of democratic controls. We feel that in its desire to
preserve the integrity of the courts, the convention
has gone farther than is necessary or safe in putting
them in the hands of a private, professional group,
however public spirited its members may be.
MR. MINNERY said that SB 14 does not cure every shortcoming in
the current judicial selection process but it is a significant
step in the right direction.
3:06:36 PM
CHAIR REINBOLD stated that public testimony would remain open.
[SB 14 was held in committee.]
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