This year’s judicial retention elections were not just a hot topic in Colorado, but also in numerous states across the country.  Judicial incumbents faced opposition to their continued retention in office in states ranging from Alaska (where an anti-retention movement against one of the incumbent state supreme court justices got off to a late start and fell short of success) to Illinois (where the state’s Chief Justice came under fire by business groups fed up with consistent anti-business rulings) in states following the “merit selection & retention” model.

Perhaps the most interesting comparisons are among neighboring states Iowa (which succeeded, thanks to a well-funded, resourced, and politically supported effort, in ousting three incumbent state supreme court justices), Kansas (which failed to oust 4 incumbent state supreme court justices) and Colorado (which succeeded in  encouraging the reigning Chief Justice to resign, but fell short in removing the remaining three incumbent state supreme court justices on the November ballot).

An article entitled “A Judicial Tidalwave?” related the results of the Iowa ouster of three incumbent state supreme court justices to similar judicial-accountability movements in these neighboring states.  After covering the results of the Iowa vote (removing the three incumbents at the supreme court level while retaining some lower-court judges with similar voting records), the article addressed efforts in Kansas and Colorado, ascribing the difference in results to lack of support from existing organizations and groups (including the state party hierarchy, ‘business’ groups, & other ideologically-allied associations:

But despite their efforts, the Republican Party in particular, and even conservatives in general, failed to make this an election issue.

and lack of resources, particularly funding:

[in Colorado] all three justices were retained, though with only about 60% of the vote rather than the usual 70% plus. Unlike the effort in Iowa, Clear the Bench was hampered in its ability to conduct radio and television advertising by only raising $45,000 for its efforts.

The article concludes by noting:

In the end, though a good year for conservatives, the 2010 tsunami was powerless to sweep the judicial retention elections as it did other races. Time will only tell whether the successful anti-retention campaign against Iowa’s Supreme Court justices was an anomaly, or whether it can be duplicated here and elsewhere in the future.

Although this year’s campaign (and election) is over, the fight to reform Colorado’s out-of-control legal/judicial complex continues.  In the near term, Clear The Bench Colorado is working to hold the consortium of legal-establishment special-interest groups who attempted (and may have succeeded in) buying the election for their buddies on the bench accountable for their violations of Colorado campaign finance law.  Longer term, Clear The Bench Colorado will work with legislators and others interested in reforming the systemic shortcomings of Colorado’s “merit selection & retention” system to increase transparency and accountability to the public.  For both of those endeavors, we would appreciate your continued support - via your comments (Sound Off!) and, yes, your contributions. Freedom isn’t free -nor is it always easy to be a Citizen, not a subject.

Ultimately, though - it’s worth the effort.

Tags: Alex Martinez, Chief Justice Mullarkey, Colorado Bar Association, Colorado Constitution, Colorado Courts, Colorado Judges, Colorado Judicial Institute, Colorado Mill Levy, Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation, Colorado Politics, Colorado Secretary of State, Colorado Statesman, Colorado Supreme Court, Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, Iowa Supreme Court, judical activism, judicial accountability, judicial evaluation, judicial performance, Judicial Performance Review, judicial retention, judicial usurpation, Kansas Supreme Court, Know Your Judge, Law Week Colorado, League of Women Voters, Mary Mullarkey, Michael Bender, Mill Levy Tax Colorado, Mill Levy Tax Freeze, Mullarkey Court, Mullarkey Majority, Nancy Rice, State Commission on Judicial Performance, TABOR, Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, unjust justices