Out in the Black Hills a small revolution has begun, backed by a group called "JAIL 4 Judges," that seeks to throw out any judge that dares rule against anyone who disagrees with the judge. Actually, that's too simple of a statement: what South Dakota Constitutional Amendment E would do is "create grand juries with the power to investigate and indict judges, as well as toss them off the bench and strip them of their immunity so they could be sued for decisions they make," according to an article in Monday's Los Angeles Times.
Obviously judges think this idea from the group behind the Judicial Accountability Initiative Law (JAIL) is a very flawed and an attempt to disrupt the third branch of government. According to the Times:
They say his plan is a terrible idea and represents nothing less than an attack on the premise of a fair and impartial judiciary that operates independently of pressure from special interests. That's because if judges can be investigated, sued and even jailed for decisions they make, few will be likely to make unpopular decisions, even if that is what the law calls for.
The man behind the effort, Five-Star National JAIL Commander in Chief Ron Branson, says he got the idea when he couldn't get any help with a traffic ticket and his subsequent appeals were denied. He says he realized the system was broken and there was no way for him, or anyone, to fix it without reform.
"When I started this thing, I had no money and no volunteers. I knew the Lord called me to do it. I figured I got to get out there and do it," he said. "I am informed that if we win in South Dakota, there will be millions for us."
By the way, the South Dakota folks are distancing themselves from Branson because critics there are portraying him as a kook.
In most states judges face judicial accountability review panels, which either take too long to act or tend to over react or under react, depending on the circumstance. These processes are often secretive and slow to respond to complaints of poor judicial activity.
In some instances a person can actually be convicted of a crime, have an appellate court overturn the conviction, be retried, found guilty and re-sentenced, long before a judicial complaint is investigated and reviewed by the judicial accountability review panel. Recently in Nevada we had a former judge investigated and censored for bad behavior three years after he had been removed from the bench by voters. This is one of the reasons campaigns like Amendment E strike a nerve with the public.
Fortunately the judiciary has started to take notice of Jail For Judges and the Amendment E proposal and is starting to speak up in the defense of the bench.
"It has to be taken seriously because the organizers did get it on the South Dakota ballot," said Bert Brandenburg, executive director of the Justice at Stake Campaign, a national organization that pushes for fair and impartial courts. "One of the effects of passing one of these measures would be to throw the door wide open for interest groups to come in and pressure courts into ruling on behalf of special interests instead of the public interest?¢‚Ǩ¬¶. It would be a driver's license for anti-court people around the country."
While judges are only starting to take Amendment E seriously, Branson is already counting on a win in South Dakota to further his cause and make it a richly-funded political campaign. Judges don't normally hire PR professionals, but they may want to consider it as it looks like Branson may strike a nerve and start collecting a lot of money to spend on PR, marketing and advertising.
Disclosures:
The Justice At Stake organization is funded with grants by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Joyce Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the Public Welfare Foundation and supports projects to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom. And in case you haven't read my bio, I work for 42 Judges in the Clark County Courts of Las Vegas, Nevada.
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