NEWS CLIPS

Our State’s Supreme Court

Preserving THE MISSOURI PLAN

Judge Laura Denvir Stith is beginning a two-year term as chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court. Thank goodness she strongly supports the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan for selecting new members of the court.

She will chair a committee to select a three-candidate pool to submit to the governor, who then will choose one to replace retiring Judge Ronnie White. Later, a public vote is held to determine whether such appointees shall be retained in office.

In a recent interview, Stith said she believes the Missouri Plan is "wonderful," and 34 other states have copied it as a way to mitigate the influence of partisan politics in judicial selection.

She will need to keep her defenses strong because a move is under way to kill the plan, led by Gov. Matt Blunt and a merry band of Republican conservatives who bemoan "activist" judges. They want to substitute the so-called federal system instead, in which the governor appoints a political friend, the Senate ratifies the choice and no retention vote is allowed. Imagine a Missouri version of the rancor and partisan tilt of recent appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court made by ideologue President George W. Bush.

If you do not believe in litmus tests for high court judges on particular issues, you do not want the change Blunt & Co. propose.

No system of judicial selection will completely eliminate choices based on political philosophy. The Missouri Plan is unique for a process that does as much to choose judges for more basic qualities, described by Stith as intelligence, understanding of the law and affection for the proper role of the court, which is to evaluate issues before it without concern for political influence from interest groups or the public.

Under the plan, a more broadly representative judicial selection committee debates candidates with these qualifications in mind, a far superior way of defining the field than leaving it simply to the whim of a governor.

Any governor. This is not a partisan issue. No governor of either party will be as objective as the Missouri Plan committee. In the end, the governor gets to pick his appointment from the three nominees to the court, giving him substantial leverage within bounds set by Missouri Plan nominators.

Repeal of the plan is not a dormant issue. Word is the federalists will be back with another attempt to scuttle the Missouri Plan. I’m glad Judge Stith is in her position of leverage, able to lead the rebuttal. The very idea of removing the proven and highly touted Missouri Plan is nonsense.