The Ironic Unintended Effects Of Electing Judges By District In Oregon
| August 6th, 2006This November, Oregon voters will have a chance to change the way Judges are elected to the Oregon Supreme Court. (Yes, we elect our Supreme Court Justices here.) Right now, OSC (Oregon Supreme Court) Justices are elected by the entire state. If Ballot Measure 24 (pdf link) passes, however, the seven judges on the OSG (and also the ten judges on the Oregon Court of Appeals) will be elected by districts determined by population.
In other words, if Measure 24 passes, Oregon will be divided into seven Supreme Court districts, each containing one-seventh of Oregon’s population; and each district will get to elect one Supreme Court Justice.
The idea is to let people in rural Oregon feel like they have representation on the OSC. (Oregon, in a much oversimplified nutshell, can be divided into “liberal Portland” and “conservative the rest of Oregon,” so Portland’s influence mightily annoys the rest of the state). However, Randy at Ridenbaugh Press points out that Measure 24 might work to weaken, rather than expand, the influence of rural Oregonians:
The up-side to the initiative, from the rural interest viewpoint, is that they’d be guaranteed a presence on the court. The downside is the limitation of that presence. On even the 10-member Court of Appeals, all of Oregon east of the Cascades would get just about . . . one seat. And that’s as much as they’d ever be able to get; under the present plan, you could in theory elect judge after judge from the big wide open. They’d get less than that on the Supreme Court. Meantime, under the new plan, the Portland metro area’s domination of the courts would be locked in.
It seems to me that this plan could make it far easier to elect at least a couple of progressive Judges, as well - it’s a lot easier for a progressive to get elected if they only have to get a majority of Portland voters, rather than a majority of Oregon voters.
So if you want Eastern Oregon to have guaranteed representation on Oregon’s highest Court, vote for Measure 24. And if you want to guarantee that the Court will always be dominated by Portlanders… vote for Measure 24.
Curtsy: Blue Oregon.
(Crossposted on Creative Destruction, where the moderation is lighter.)
August 6th, 2006 at 3:44 am
Well, dominated by Portlanders and sub-urban metro area dwellers, which is very different.
Looking over their bios, the current judges are associated with:
Douglas County (Southern Oregon)
Marion County (Salem)
Portland
Eugene and Portland
Portland
Portland
Portland
Also, equating Eastern Oregon and rural Oregon is a mistake. Most rural and small town Oregonians do not live in Eastern Oregon, they live in the Willamette Valley or along the coast.
But yes, it would probably elect both more progressive judges and more reactionary judges.
This comment was written by Charles.Report this comment to the moderators
August 6th, 2006 at 4:51 am
Is that measure number right?
This almost passed the last time we voted on it. It has a nice ring to it. But ultimately, it’s a dumb idea, reinforcing the awful idea that judges have political “constituencies,” rather than being neutral arbitrators. We already have two failed politiical branches in Oregon state government — we don’t need a third.
This comment was written by Jack Bog.Report this comment to the moderators
August 6th, 2006 at 9:24 am
s highest Court, vote for Measure 24. And if you want to guarantee that the Court will always be dominated by Portlanders… vote for Measure 24. Curtsy: Blue Oregon. (Crossposted on Creative Destruction, where the moderation is lighter.) posted 4:26 am at Alas, a blog
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August 13th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
DLC’s control.) That said, Nathan agrees that, “victory is better than defeat, and Lamont seems like a good guy who will be more progressive than Lieberman.” And, like Nathan, what thrills me is the idea of Bernie Sanders in the Senate. Ampersand says Measure 24 on changing how Oregon’s Supreme Court is elected is win-win on presentation: So if you want Eastern Oregon to have guaranteed representation on Oregon’s highest Court, vote for Measure 24. And if you want to guarantee that the Court will always be
This comment was written by The Sideshow August 2006 Archive.Report this comment to the moderators
November 1st, 2006 at 3:40 pm
[...] No on Measure 40 - Elect Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Judges by district. I’ve written about this one before, although it’s measure number has changed since then. I’m voting against this: Judges enforce laws for the entire state, not for their own districts. [...]
This comment was written by Alas, a blog » Blog Archive » How I’m Voting This Election Cycle: Oregon Ballot Measures.Report this comment to the moderators
November 1st, 2006 at 10:44 pm
[...] No on Measure 40 - Elect Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Judges by district. I’ve written about this one before, although it’s measure number has changed since then. I’m voting against this: Judges enforce laws for the entire state, not for their own districts. [...]
This comment was written by How I’m Voting This Election Cycle: Oregon Ballot Measures « Creative Destruction.Report this comment to the moderators