Poll Shows Missourians Overwhelmingly Want to Keep Politics and Campaign Money Out of Missouri’s Highest Courts

Voters Say No to Proposed Constitutional Amendments that Would Repeal The Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan

Originally posted on October 24, 2013

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – A new survey of Missouri registered voters shows that new efforts to repeal the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan and replace it with partisan elections and unlimited campaign contributions would be overwhelmingly rejected. At the time of the survey, conducted October 10-11, only 18% of registered voters planned to vote yes, while 58% planned to vote no.

“This poll confirms that Missourians still have no appetite for giving political parties or special interests greater power to pick Missouri judges,” said Skip Walther, MFICC Treasurer and former Missouri Bar President. “Missouri voters see right through these attempts by partisan machines and special interests to give themselves more power by injecting partisan politics and unlimited campaign money into our state’s highest courts.”

The proposed constitutional amendments, which have been approved for circulation by the Secretary of State’s office, would replace Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan with partisan elections of judges for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Missouri, plus increase the number of judges on the Supreme Court from seven to nine.

The poll also found voters are concerned about injecting partisan politics into the courts. Fewer than one out of three voters favor the proposed amendments when they are told that the non-partisan merit selection process will be repealed and replaced by partisan elections.

Plus, Missouri voters are vastly opposed to judicial candidates soliciting campaign contributions. Of note, 85% of voters, including 79% who hold the position strongly, oppose allowing judicial candidates to solicit campaign contributions, especially from parties who may have ongoing or future business in front of the court.

According to “The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2009–2010,”election spending on state high court races has soared in recent years, more than doubling from $83.3 million in 1990-1999 to $206.9 million in 2000-2009.

“Missouri’s nonpartisan court plan has been a model for the nation because it ensures that judges are beholden to the constitution, not political parties or campaign contributors,” said Walther. “Missouri voters have said it before and will say it again – justice is not for sale in Missouri.”

States that elect their judges, such as Illinois and West Virginia, highlight the conflicts of interest associated with campaign contributions. One such scandal resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2009 that a West Virginia judge should have disqualified himself from an appeal of a $50 million jury verdict against Massey Energy Co. because the company’s CEO had contributed more than $3 million to the judge.

The poll was conducted by 20/20 Insight on behalf of Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts. It surveyed 445 registered voters by telephone. These voters broadly represent the state demographically and regionally. The margin of error for registered voter responses in this survey is +/- 4.6%.

Missourians have repeatedly turned back attempts to overturn Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan, the most recent was the overwhelming defeat (76% voting no) of Amendment 3 in 2012.

Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts is comprised of retired judges and a broad coalition of community-based organizations that support Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan. In its 73rd year, the plan has produced judges who are accountable to the law, the Constitution and the notion of fair and impartial justice for all. The plan secures high-quality judges in the least political way and ultimately gives the people the final say through retention elections.

MFIC Warns Against Effort to Inject Campaign Money and Politics into Missouri’s Nonpartisan Courts

Proposed Constitutional Amendments Would Throw Out 72 year-old Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan that is Transparent and Accountable to Voters

Originally posted on August 26, 2013

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Unlimited campaign contributions and politics would replace Missouri’s nonpartisan system for choosing judges on the state’s highest courts if one of two proposed constitutional amendments were to pass. Retired judges and a broad coalition of community-based organizations known as Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts urge Missourians to reject this attempt to allow politicians and campaign contributors to replace our nonpartisan courts.

For 70 years, the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan has produced judges who are accountable to the law, the Constitution and the notion of fair and impartial justice for all. The plan secures high-quality judges in the least political way and ultimately gives the people the final say through retention elections.

The proposed constitutional amendments, which were filed with the Secretary of State’s office on Friday, would replace Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan with partisan elections of judges for the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of Missouri. If approved, it would replace Missouri’s nonpartisan courts with partisan politics and unlimited campaign money in our courts.

“In other states it generally costs millions of dollars to run for the Supreme Court, but in Missouri it costs nothing,” said retired Missouri Supreme Court Judge John Holstein, who was appointed by Republican Gov. John Ashcroft. “It costs nothing because judges are selected based on their qualifications and then are either kept or thrown out by voters in a retention election where they are judged on their record on the bench.”

According to “The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2009–2010,”election spending on state high court races has soared in recent years, more than doubling from $83.3 million in 1990-1999 to $206.9 million in 2000-2009.

“That kind of money is spent for influence, not good government,” said retired Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ray Price, who was appointed by Republican Gov. John Ashcroft. “Through these attacks on Missouri’s nonpartisan courts, people with power and money are trying to buy the Missouri judiciary and we, as Missourians, should stop them.”

Price and Holstein said money and power brokers are center stage in determining who can run successfully in elections for statewide office.

“The last thing Missourians want or deserve are judges who owe their jobs to campaign contributors,” Price added. “I strongly believe that the loyalty of future Missouri judges should continue to lie with our constitution and rule of law, not with politicians or wealthy special interests.”

States that elect their judges, such as Illinois and West Virginia, highlight the conflicts of interest associated with campaign contributions. One such scandal resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2009 that a West Virginia judge should have disqualified himself from an appeal of a $50 million jury verdict against Massey Energy Co. because the company’s CEO had contributed more than $3 million to the judge.

The Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan was approved by voters in 1940 to end the influence of partisan political machines in electing members to our state’s highest courts. This system, often referred to as The Missouri Plan, is a national model and is now used by more than half of the states in the nation after Missouri pioneered this innovative way of selecting judges based on merit and not politics or financial influence.

Missourians have repeatedly turned back attempts to overturn Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan, the most recent was the overwhelming defeat of Amendment 3 in 2012.

Open Letter from Our Honorary Co-Chairs

Originally posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

RE: Oppose the proposed changes to the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan

More than 70 years ago, The Missouri Plan was conceived to ensure that no one political party or person could hand-pick our judges. Under the Plan, political and special interest influence is kept at bay through a commission-based selection process, at the core of which is a balanced commission made up of three lawyers each elected from the appellate judicial districts; three citizen-commissioners who are selected on 6-year staggered terms by the governor, so that only in limited circumstances will any one governor select all three appointees; and one judge of the Supreme Court. This commission reviews all applicants and recommends a panel of three choices to the governor. As designed, the Plan has produced a steady stream of distinguished, competent and impartial jurists with diverse backgrounds representative of all four corners of our state. Unfortunately, the Plan is under attack by those few who seek control of our courts.

As former judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri and former chairs of the appellate judicial selection commission, we have first-hand knowledge of the appellate judicial selection process, including an acute awareness of the potential dangers that increased political control or special interest influence could cause within our judicial system. We are gravely concerned about the potential changes to the composition of the commission that would result if voters approve the proposed constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot this November.

If approved, the carefully balanced commission would be destroyed by the removal of the supreme court judge and by giving a governor, within a single term in office, the ability to appoint a majority of the seven-member commission. Some have labeled the proposed changes a mere tweak of the Plan; however, the changes give all future governors control of appellate judicial appointments and open the door to control by one party or one person.

Our Plan – The Missouri Plan – is a model for the nation, with more than 30 states having adopted it in some form. More important, it works for Missouri. Our judiciary is a level playing field where all citizens, no matter their income or ideology, receive a fair day in court. 

We acknowledge that the plan is not perfect.  But it has been perfect in one way – it has allowed Missouri to avoid the corruption and incompetency that has sometimes plagued the judiciary in states that use a more partisan political process to choose judges.  The proposed constitutional amendment is a step towards partisan politics and with that step, it risks partisan politics becoming the dominant criterion for judicial selection in Missouri.  We have seen what loyalty to a political agenda rather than a neutral assessment of the law can produce.  We have avoided that in Missouri – and should resist every attempt to change that.
Please join us in protecting our Missouri Plan and safeguarding equal access to justice for all Missourians.

Retired Supreme Court Judges:

Hon. Ann K. Covington
Hon. John C. Holstein
Hon. Edward D. Robertson, Jr.
Hon. Wm. Ray Price, Jr.
Hon. Ronnie L. White
Hon. Michael A. Wolff

Amendment 3 Opponents To Gather in Columbia at Tiger Hotel, Birthplace of the Missouri Plan, for Watch Party

Originally posted on Monday, November 5th, 2012

On election night, Tuesday, Nov. 6, the opponents of efforts to overturn the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan will gather in Columbia at the birthplace of the Missouri Plan, the Tiger Hotel.

The leading opponents of Amendment 3, the Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee, are hosting the watch party, which will start at 8:30.

On December 11, 1937 more than 80 civic leaders from across Missouri and from across the political spectrum met at the Tiger Hotel to confront a threat that was crippling our great state. Fed up with corrupt judges and politically-motivated courts ruled with an iron fist by political bosses like Tom Pendergast, this group went about devising a system for selecting judges aimed at taking politics and partisanship out of our courts.

That group wrote and filed an initiative petition that created the Nonpartisan Court Plan. In Nov. 1940 Missouri voters approved this ballot measure, making Missouri the first state in the country to adopt a merit-based judicial selection system.

Amendment 3 seeks to overturn the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan by giving politicians more power to pick our judges.

MFICC, the leading opponent of Amendment 3, has brought together a diverse coalition of retired judges, business leaders and community leaders to educate voters on why putting politicians and special interests in charge of Missouri’s judicial selection process is dangerous.

The Honorary Co-Chairs of MFICC are former Missouri Supreme Court judges William Ray Price, Jr., Ronnie L. White, John C. Holstein, Ann K. Covington, Michael A. Wolff and Edward D. “Chip” Robertson, Jr. To learn more about MFICC, please visit www.mofaircourts.com

Reporters unable to make it the Victory Party but wanting comment on election night, should contact Skip Walther, the MFICC Treasurer and former Missouri Bar President, at (573) 268-3579.

No on Amendment 3 Watch Party
Tiger Hotel, Black and Gold Room
23 S. 8th Street
Columbia, MO

TV Ad Opposing Amendment 3 Begins Airing Today as Newspapers Urge a “No” Vote

Originally posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

The Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee (MFICC) today launched a television ad asking Missourians to keep politics out of Missouri courtrooms by voting no on Amendment 3. The ad, which can be viewed online at www.mofaircourts.com, will air on broadcast and cable television stations across much of the state for the next two weeks.

The ad highlights how Amendment 3 would dramatically increase the power of partisan politicians to appoint judges and inject politics into Missouri’s model nonpartisan judicial selection process. It points out that special interests put this constitutional amendment on the ballot because they are tired of nonpartisan courts that they can’t control.

“It’s no wonder our campaign gains support each day, while those special interests and politicians seeking to overturn our nonpartisan courts continue to recede into the political shadows,” said Skip Walther, MFICC Treasurer and former Missouri Bar President. “The last place Missourians want to give politicians more power is in picking our judges. Missouri’s nonpartisan court plan has been a model for the nation because it ensures that judges are beholden to the constitution and not politicians or special interests. We will continue to provide Missourians with the facts they need to keep politics out of our courtrooms by voting against Amendment 3.”

Also joining MFICC in asking Missourians to vote against Amendment 3 are editorial boards from across the state, including papers that don’t often share similar political views, including:

• The Joplin Globe editorialized, “We don’t want judges who are bought and paid for in Missouri. And we don’t want Constitutional Amendment 3 to go into effect.”
• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “One of the reasons the Missouri Plan works so well in elevating merit over partisanship in choosing judges is that no individual governor, Republican or Democrat, can have significant power… Amendment 3 would change that, giving one governor the power to appoint hiscronies and all but guarantee full control over the choosing of judges.”
• The Southeast Missourian warned, “… this solution could open up a new can of political worms.”
• The Kansas City Star said, “Voters should show their support for integrity on the bench by rejecting Amendment 3. Andthey should let it be known that Missouri’s courts are not for sale.”
• The Columbia Daily Tribune wrote, “The Missouri Plan is designed to inject a fair degree of independent input into judicial selection while still giving the governor a fair degree of final control. It need not be changed.Vote “no” on Amendment 3.”

MFICC is a group of retired judges, business leaders and community leaders that are educating voters this fall on why putting politicians in charge of Missouri’s judicial selection process is dangerous because it brings partisan politics into the one branch of government where it has been held at bay.

The Honorary Co-Chairs of Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee are formerMissouri Supreme Court judges William Ray Price, Jr., Ronnie L. White, John C. Holstein, Ann K. Covington, Michael A. Wolff and Edward D. “Chip” Robertson, Jr. To learn more about MFICC and to view the new ad, please visit www.mofaircourts.com

KC Star and Columbia Daily Tribune Urge Voters to Reject Amendment 3

Originally posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2012

This week the KC Star and Columbia Daily Tribune editorial boards officially announced their endorsement against Amendment 3, which would inundate Missouri courtrooms with politics. The two papers join Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee (MFICC) in the fight to preserve Missouri’s current Nonpartisan Court Plan.

The Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan, which was approved by voters more than 70 years ago, selects judges based on merit and has become a national model for keeping politics out of the judicial selection process.

“The Missouri Plan is designed to inject a fair degree of independent input into judicial selection while still giving the governor a fair degree of final control,” wrote the Columbia Daily Tribune. “It need not be changed. Vote “no” on Amendment 3.”

Amendment 3, which will appear on the November ballot in Missouri, removes the nonpartisan and nonpolitical elements of the current plan by giving Missouri governors the power to handpick a majority of the commission that selects appellate nominees.

The two papers are urging voters to consider the ramifications of allowing politicians to influence Missouri courts.

“Voters should show their support for integrity on the bench by rejecting Amendment 3,” wrote the KC Star. “And they should let it be known that Missouri’s courts are not for sale.”

MFICC is a group of retired judges, business leaders and community leaders that are educating voters this fall on why putting politicians in charge of Missouri’s judicial selection process is dangerous because it brings partisan politics into the one branch of government where it has been held at bay. To learn more about MFICC, please visit www.mofaircourts.com.

“Our selection system focuses on talent and intelligence and judicial temperament, not ideology, and no one has the ability to buy their way into the room where judicial candidates are screened,” said Skip Walther, MFICC Treasurer and former President of the Missouri Bar. “If we abandon our current merit-based selection system and replace it with one where the governor has the power to handpick our judges, just think how much money will roll in from those partisans with a specific candidate and agenda in mind.”

The Honorary Co-Chairs of Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee are former Missouri Supreme Court judges William Ray Price, Jr., Ronnie L. White, John C. Holstein,Ann K. Covington, Michael A. Wolff and Edward D. “Chip” Robertson, Jr.

MFICC Releases Statement on Amendment 3 Losing Support

Originally posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

The Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee today released a statement following an announcement that Amendment 3 was losing some of its support.

“For more than 70 years Missouri has served as a national model for selecting judges based on merit and not on politics. Missourians simply do not support overturning our nonpartisan system for picking judges with one that allow politics into our courtrooms,” said Skip Walther, Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Committee Treasurer. “We will continue to educate Missouri voters on why it’s dangerous to allow politicians to control what is now a nonpartisan process. We urge all Missourians to protect the nonpartisan nature of our courts by showing up to the polls on November 6, and voting no on Amendment 3.”