NEWS CLIPS

Some question Shields’ push for openness

A local senator’s crusade for the Missouri Sunshine Law may appear out of character after looking at his track record.

Controversy surrounding a state judicial panel’s selection of Supreme Court nominees could come to a head this week when Senate Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, publicly questions Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith. She’s accepted Mr. Shields’ invitation to a Senate hearing to explain the Appellate Judicial Commission’s longstanding process of filling Supreme Court vacancies.

Mr. Shields has criticized the commission for meeting in private this summer to interview the applicants, citing it as a violation of the Sunshine Law since the group didn’t post it ahead of time with any meeting specifics.

Commissioners argue they are subject to Supreme Court rules and must keep the identities of the applicants confidential.

"Given the importance of the position, this should be a much more open process," Mr. Shields told the News-Press.

Matt Blunt apparently backs him.

"Gov. Blunt has said he believes that government in secret is typically bad government and it certainly is within the scope of the Legislature to examine whether the process for selecting judges is transparent," said Jessica Robinson, spokeswoman for Mr. Blunt.

But Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti accused Mr. Shields of "cherry picking" his Sunshine Law battles.

"It seems Sen. Shields is being a bit hypocritical," said Mr. Cardetti, pointing to alleged Sunshine Law violations that have occurred during the Blunt administration. "Shields is only interested in government accountability when it can help out Matt Blunt politically."

Historically, Mr. Shields has voted in favor of efforts to expand the Sunshine Law, including one he most recently co-sponsored in 2004. SB 1020 nixed waiting periods on some records and requires members of a public body to transmit all electronic messages to the custodian of record, among other changes.

That bill also included a new restriction on the Sunshine Law, which Mr. Shields authored at the request of the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. Public bodies now can close meetings and records that relate to certain operational or critical incident response plans.

Mr. Shields in 2003 also pushed a Sunshine Law exception for the North Kansas City Hospital to close records on certain contracts. He contended the exception was needed so that the hospital could compete with not-for-profit and private hospitals, but the measure never came up for a vote. Mr. Shields is a marketing director for Heartland Health.

Mr. Shields himself became entangled in a private meeting a year ago involving St. Joseph’s bid for the Chiefs’ training camp. Mr. Shields called a meeting with city of St. Joseph and Buchanan County officials at Heartland, but told a News-Press reporter he wasn’t invited. At the invitation of Mayor Ken Shearin, the reporter went to the meeting and found two members of the Buchanan County Commission, a quorum. The meeting wasn’t posted in advance. It ultimately was opened, with Mr. Shields arguing he wasn’t aware the quorum would be present.

In a 2002 Sunshine Law questionnaire from the News-Press, Mr. Shields wrote that he didn’t think tape recordings of closed meetings were "necessary" because of the cost involved.

In the 2007 legislative session, a reporter shield law that passed unanimously out of the House of Representatives died in the Senate. A Senate committee gave it the thumbs up, but Mr. Shields never called the bill up for a vote, citing a possible filibuster from opponents. He told the News-Press he would’ve voted in favor of it.

Given his Sunshine history, could the recent call for openness be chopped up to a change of heart?

"The open meetings law and transparency in government is a different issue now that it has been in recent history," Mr. Shields said. "In this particular case, if you believe, and I do, the judiciary is entering into the policy-making arena, you have to have some ability to understand the people that are ... serving in those capacities."

Mr. Shields said he’s not in favor of abolishing the process known as the Missouri Court Plan, but is exploring other possibilities, such as filing legislation to require Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominees.

Regardless of his statement, Mr. Cardetti still questioned his motives.

"Matt Blunt and Charlie Shields’ ultimate goal is to get rid of the Missouri Court Plan so governors can hand-pick judges based on factors other than judicial (aptitude)," Mr. Cardetti said. "Everyone needs to be honest about what the goal is here."

Tim Dollar, a Kansas City attorney and executive committee member of the Association of Missouri Trial Attorneys, said the nonpartisan court plan has operated well through long periods of Democratic administrations and Republican administrations.

Mr. Dollar said this of politicians interested in changing the Missouri Court Plan: "It’s not that they don’t want activist judges — they want their own activist judges. They want to inject politics into a process that’s been functioning since the 1940s."

A majority of Missourians who took part in a recent survey might support Mr. Shields’ efforts, though.

The Federalist Society out of Washington recently released a survey of 500 registered voters in Missouri.

Of that pool, 80 percent agreed that interviews of Supreme Court judicial candidates should be bound by the state’s Sunshine Law. Roughly 40,000 attorneys, primarily with conservative and Libertarian views, make up the nationwide organization.

Shortly after the controversy first peaked this summer from the appellate commission’s secret meeting, former Supreme Court Justice Edward "Chip" Robertson founded the non-profit organization, Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts. It aims to preserve the current court structure and to protect "Missouri courts from attacks by a small group of politicians and special interest groups," according to the group’s Web site, www.protectjustice.org.

"I think everyone’s got the right motives here," Mr. Robertson said of the debate. "I don’t think the discussion is bad."

He did, however, suggest that if Mr. Shields wants the commission interviews of potential nominees opened, he should do the same with Senate Republican caucus meetings.

Members of the public are free to watch Mr. Shields’ discussion with Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith during a Senate rules committee meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Capitol in Jefferson City. Mr. Shields is the rules chairman.

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