Former U.S. Supreme Court justice says appointed judges better for business

By Buck Wargo

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said going to a judicial merit selection system is good for business and has enjoyed strong support from the private sector across the country.

O’Connor, who spoke Tuesday to the Las Vegas Sun Editorial Board about the importance of Nevada residents to vote for a merit-based system in November, said she recently traveled to Iowa to talk about the merit system there and how it was working. She said she was surprised at what she found.

“Both the unions and the business sector were together on the value and health of the merit system,” said O’Connor, a former Arizona judge. “They were absolutely sold, and you don’t see that often. They were that way in Arizona, and I anticipate they are that way here.”

In Nevada, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce and Nevada AFL-CIO are supporters of Question 1.

The merit system would replace one in which judges are elected. Under a new system, a commission would recommend finalists to the governor, who would make the selection. The public would then vote on whether judges should be retained.

O’Connor said businesses like the merit system because they want to keep cash out of the courtrooms in the form of donations to judicial candidates. In some states, judicial campaigns are costing more than those for a U.S. Senate seat, she said.

“Businesses believe, as I do, that when you go to court to have an issue resolved, that it be resolved by the people who are qualified, fair and independent,” O’Connor said. “You don’t want them there because money that has been spent on them. You can understand why the business community would feel that way. You don’t want to run the risk of having somebody who is committed to some point of view by virtue of some campaign contribution.”

Ruth McGregor, a retired Arizona State Supreme Court justice, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce looks at a court system in determining what are the best business climates in the country. Four of the top five had a merit system and four of the bottom five had an elected system, she said.

In the most recent legal system survey this year, Nevada was ranked 28th. In a previous survey in 2008, the state was ranked 40th.

“In Arizona, almost all of the major employers say they favor the merit selection system,” McGregor said. “It is right. I work for a large private law firm and our clients are mostly business clients. What they wanted was to be able to predict what the outcome would be. We had some judges in the early days when they were elected that you just couldn’t predict. They were off the wall with their decisions.”

Because of the concern of qualified judges, businesses used to take complex cases to federal court rather than take their chance in state courts, McGregor said.