State Supreme Court Composition as of March 3rd, 2021

State Supreme Court Composition as of March 3rd, 2021

There are several State Supreme Court vacancies open since the start of the 2021 legislative session. Below I will be doing a short dive into each vacancy and the switches on each court.

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Starting in order we have Alaska. Currently, Joel Bolger (the Chief Justice of the Alaskan Supreme Court) is set to retire on June 30th, 2021. As of March 3rd, 2021 he has not changed his mind about retiring. 

Alaska uses a non-partisan nominating commission that chooses 7 judges from applicants across the state and presents them to Governor Mike Dunleavy (R) who will then chose a judge from that list.

Currently, the applicants are Dani Crosby (a Superior Court judge in Anchorage), Jennifer Stuart Henderson (a Superior Court judge in Anchorage), Yvonne Lamoureaux (a Superior Court judge in Anchorage), Margaret Paton-Walsh (a chief assistant attorney general for the Department of Law), Paul Roetman (a Superior Court judge in Kotzebue), Ben Whipple (an attorney in private practice in Palmer), and Jonathan Woodman (a Superior Court judge in Palmer).

I will be going more in-depth in this process next post as well as go through the relative leanings of each candidate and the current bills in the Senate that could upend this process.

With his retirement, the court stands 3R-1D and stands moderate. This decision could flip it to conservative.

This would be Dunleavy's 2nd court appointment.

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Next in line, we have Georgia. As of March 3rd, no replacement has been appointed to Justice Harold Melton's seat and one is not expected to arrive for several months as his retirement takes effect July 1st, 2021.

This would be Kemp's third appointment to the court with Justice Boggs and/or Justice Nahmias likely to retire within the next 4 years. The governor nominates a nominee and it is approved by a simple vote in the State Senate. The judge then stands in a nonpartisan open election at the end of that open term (would be 2024).

With his retirement the court stands 7R-1D and stands conservative.

Justice Melton is rumored to either take a Senate run in 2022 or go to private practice. __________________________________________________________________________________

Idaho is the next retirement on the list which is Roger Burdick. Appointed by Governor Dirk Kempthorne (R) in 2004, he has chosen to retire after 16 years on the court. He has not as of March 2nd, 2021 changed his mind to retire.

In Idaho a list of 2 to 4 names by a non-partisan commission using the Missouri Plan. The Idaho Judaical Council has not yet released the names of applicants or selected the two to four names for the governor to pick from.

The Idaho Judicial Council is made up of the Chief Justice (R), one state district judge, and two attorneys as well as three members of the public (their affiliation does not matter).

Current council members are Hon. Chief Justice G. Richard, J. Philip Reberger, Elizabeth S. Chavez, Kathy Simpson, Reed W. Larsen, R. Bruce Owens, Hon. Jeff Brudie, and Hon. Thomas W. Clark.

With the next post, I will include a brief review of each person's politics and publicly available information about them.

With his retirement, the court stands 3R-1D and stands conservative.

His retirement is for June 30th, 2021 and this would be current Governor Brad Little's (R) first nomination to the Idaho Supreme Court.

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The next retirement is from Maine which has been stalled for quite some time due to some disagreements on nominees and the process by Governor Janet Mills and the Maine Senate. It is the only retirement from 2020 that has not been filled yet.

The last judicial nominations came from her office on January 20th, 2021 and none have been reported since. Rumor has it that either the governor is waiting for Judge Rick Lawrence or she is currently having issues getting her preferred nominee through the Senate.

Whatever it is, this is currently the longest-running vacancy open. Former Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley retired on April 14th, 2020. This would be Governor Janet Mills (D) third nominee to the court since taking office.

With her retirement, the court stands 5D-1R and stands liberal. 

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In Missouri, the fabled Missouri Plan is the name of the game as judges are selected similar to the Idaho system. Laura Denvir Stith is the current Justice who has announced her retirement and is set to retire on March 8th, 2021. 

Currently, the Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission is reviewing applicants and is expected to recommend at least 3 to the Governor who has 60 days to appoint a replacement else the commission picks for him. The current governor is Mike Parson (R) in which this will be his first appointment to the court.

The members of the Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission are The Honorable George W. Draper III (Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Missouri),  Thomas K. Neill (ABA State Bar Lawyer from the Eastern District), Neil Chanter (ABA State Bar Lawyer from the Western District),  Scott S. Bethune (ABA State Bar Lawyer from the Southern District Member),  Timothy M. Drury (Eastern District Member), Sally Hargis (Southern District Member), and Kathy Ritter (Western District Member). 

I will be going more in-depth  in this process next post as well as go through the relative leanings of each candidate and the current bills in the Senate that could upend this process.  

With her retirement the court stands 3R-3D and stands liberal. If a conservative replacement is appointed this would be a flip. 

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In New York, two New York Supreme Court Justices (in actuality the State of New York Court of Appeals) are retiring.

The two justices who retired are Leslie Stein and Eugene Fahey. They will retire on June 4th, 2021, and December 31st, 2021 respectively.

New York has a system in which the justices of the State of New York Court of Appeals are selected by the governor and are appointed with a simple majority by the Senate.

It is not known whether or not we should be expecting a nominee, it is expected to be close to the retirement date. However, the current issues with Cuomo could delay that nomination if animosity with the legislature continues.

With their retirement the court stands 4D-1R and stands liberal. 

If he appoints the next two justices it would be his 8th and 9th nominee to the court. 

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In Oklahoma the State Supreme Court has had one vacancy when Justice Tom Colbert retired on February 1st, 2021. He was appointed by Governor Brad Henry (D) in 2004 and now will be replaced under Governor Kevin Stitt (R). This would be his third appointee on the State Supreme Court.

Oklahoma uses a Missouri-style commission to pick the nominees for the State Supreme Court. The Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission screens three candidates and then presents the names of those people to the governor who then picks them. If the Governor within 60 days fails to pick one of the three, the Chief Justice picks the nominee who shall serve out the remainder of that turn.

For further information refer to this handy video: Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission

There are a total of 15 members on the court with 6 selected by the governor, 6 selected by the Oklahoma Bar Association, and the last member selected by the other 12 who can be any of them.

Each of the nominees by the governor must come from a different congressional district (as existed in 1967), see below.

None of the six gubernatorial nominees may be licensed attorneys and can only be 3 at most of the same political party (they also are never allowed to hold judicial office appointed by the Commission ever again). The six Oklahoma Bar Association members must follow the same rules as above.

For the last two members, one is selected by the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives (Charles McCall - R) and the other the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma Senate (Greg Treat - R). They can come from anywhere and must not be licensed attorneys.

Below are the 15 commission members with who they belong to what political party as determined by their registration. In a future post I will go into in-depth of each member and see whether they follow their political preference: Mr. Aaron Abbott (I - District 1), Mr. Charles Pearson (I - District 2),  Mr. D.B. Green (D - District 3),  Mr. Rick Johnston (R - District 4),  Mr. David Hudiburg (R - District 5), Mr. Joey Meibergen (R - District 6),  Dr. Major L. Jemison (D - Voted on by the Commission), Mr. Rick Nagel (R - Selected by the President Pro Tem of the Senate), Mr. Trebor Worthen (R - Selected by Speaker of the House of Representatives), Mr. William R. Grimm (District 1), Ms. Linda Lepak (District 2), Mr. James D. Bland (District 3), Mr. David Butler (District 4), Mr. Jim Webb, (District 5), and Ms. Melissa DeLacerda (District 6).

It takes about a month or so for the commission to come up with a list, so we will know within the month for a replacement list. However, depending on whether the Oklahoma State Legislature passes a bill to repeal the commission, this may be the last court appointee that uses this process. Historically, it is unlikely the legislature will succeed.

With his retirement, the court stands 4D-4R and stands liberal. If a conservative replacement is appointed this would be a flip. 

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When I write xD-yR I am not referring to the current court composition, but what it will be once that Justice leaves the bench. Please pay attention to the retirement date and use common sense to see whether or not that Justice can participate in court proceedings.

If you have any questions, follow and ask me on Twitter @TurukanotheWise.