Hawaii’s Amendment 2: Allowing judges to come back into limited service after...
I’ve examined the dozens of bills introduced in the last several years to increase or eliminate mandatory judicial retirement ages. Hawaii itself tried, and failed, to increase the age in 2006. Now the...
View ArticleWyoming Constitutional Amendment C: What exactly is “chambers business”?
Wyoming HJR 1 (of 2011) / Constitutional Amendment C , on the ballot this November, would eliminate an existing provision that district court commissioners may act only 1) in the absence of the...
View ArticleMaryland Question 1 & Question 2: double-majorities required to pass, plus...
Voters in Maryland will once again be voting on whether to require certain judges in the state be attorneys. In 2010 voters amended the state constitution to require that Orphan’s Court (read: probate)...
View ArticleNew Mexico Amendment 1: expanding membership of judicial disciplinary...
In November New Mexico voters will decide whether to expand the state’s judicial disciplinary commission, called the Judicial Standards Commission, by adding a magistrate judge and an additional member...
View ArticleSpecial Election Night Coverage hosted by Gavel to Gavel’s Bill Raftery
I’ll be hosting the National Center for State Court’s live election night results on the state ballot initiatives discussed on this blog and state supreme court elections at www.ncsc.org/elections....
View ArticleReminder: Special Election Night Coverage hosted by Gavel to Gavel’s Bill...
I’ll be hosting the National Center for State Court’s live election night results on the state ballot initiatives discussed on this blog and state supreme court elections at www.ncsc.org/elections....
View ArticleElection 2012: The winners, the losers, and the close calls
The November 2012 saw a litany of items on the ballot affecting the courts. For the most part the efforts all failed to advance past the voters, in many cases the no-vote was overwhelming. Even more...
View ArticleElection 2012: The winners and what their victories portend for 2013/2014
Maryland’s Question 1 & Question 2: Both approved These amendments required the Orphans’ Court (read: probate court) judges in Prince George’s & Baltimore Counties, respectively, to be...
View ArticleElection 2012: The losers lost big and what the losses portend for 2013/2014
The 2012 election saw several attempts to “rein in” or otherwise assert control of the judiciary by the other branches of government. The four key amendments on the ballot not only all failed, but...
View ArticleElection 2012: The close calls and why non-votes killed Hawaii’s Amendment 2...
Alabama’s Local Questions: 2 narrow losses, 1 win I’ve mentioned before the constitutional quirk in Alabama whereby changes or increases in court filing fees required an amendment in the state’s...
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