Monday, November 2, 1998
Most voters ignorant about most decisions
ELECTIONS: California Supreme Court, appellate judges need
non-partisan confirmation from state
By Emi Kojima
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Less publicized, smaller, non-partisan offices – such as the
confirmation of judges – often leave voters in a quandary over how
to vote in the California elections.
State supreme court and appellate justices will be on the Nov. 3
ballot.
Voters will confirm or reject judges for the California Supreme
Court in November’s general elections.
Four associate justices – Janice Brown, Ming William Chin,
Ronald M. George and Stanley Mosk – must be confirmed by the public
in order to retain their positions on the California Supreme Court,
along with 11 appellate justices serving in the second appellate
district that includes Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara
and Ventura counties.
Janice Brown
Associate justice Janice Brown served as the legal affairs
secretary to Gov. Pete Wilson and as a justice on the appellate
level before she was appointed to the bench of the state supreme
court.
Brown studied at UCLA’s School of Law.
Ming Chin
Ming Chin was appointed by Wilson in 1996 to be an associate
justice at the state supreme court. Before serving on the state
supreme court, he acted as an appellate justice.
He was the first Asian American to be president of the Alameda
County Bar Association in its 100 years of existence.
Ronald George
Gov. Wilson appointed Ronald George in 1991. Before he was
appointed to the state supreme court, George worked as a justice at
the appellate level and served as the state deputy attorney general
from 1965 to 1972.
Stanley Mosk
Sitting on the bench for 34 years, justice Stanley Mosk is
familiar with the legal process. He has also served as state
attorney general for two terms, from 1959 to 1964.
When he ran for attorney general the first time, he won the the
largest majority than any other race in the country – with a margin
of upwards of a million votes over his opponent.
Presiding over the complicated California court system,
appellate judges take cases when they have already been tried but a
party in the suit doesn’t agree with the court’s decision – in
other words, the appellate court handles appeals. Cases decided at
the appellate level can be appealed to the state Supreme Court, the
highest court in the state system. It takes cases on appeal from
the six district appellate courts in California.
Few cases are heard in the higher court levels.
Each justice has already undergone an elaborate process of
appointment – first, they are nominated by the governor, then
investigated by a committee and then confirmed by a group that
includes the California attorney general and other state officials.
They must be approved by voters in order to hold their positions in
the next gubernatorial election.
Justices at the state supreme court and appellate level sit on
the bench for 12 years before coming up for confirmation again.
This type of non-partisan election is unusual in the United
States, according to John Bader, an associate professor of
political science and the assistant director of center for american
politics and public policy in Washington, D.C.
"It’s pretty unusual," he said. "It’s typical of California to
give voters decisions that they are not always qualified to
make."
Bader suggests that many voters make the decision of whether to
confirm judges randomly, based on name recognition, partisan
affiliation or the "musical nature of someone’s name."
Students confirm Bader’s suspicions that voters are often
uninformed when they go to the voting booths.
Angel Roberson, a fifth-year sociology student, said that she
doesn’t conduct any research before voting, pointing to lack of
time and interest as reasons for not doing research.
"I just rely on what’s written (on the ballot)," she said.
Andrew Reta, a fourth-year economics student, votes down party
lines. "I just go for Republicans," he said.
Bader said that people might choose to not vote because they are
uninformed.
"Unfortunately, smaller elections are horrible and a reason why
people don’t vote. A lot of voters feel bad when they are at the
polls and look at the choices they are asked to make without
knowing how to do so," he said.
In fact, the number of people who vote drops off further down
the ballot toward the smaller elections, Bader said.
"I don’t blame the public. I blame the folks in charge – the
media and the candidates for not informing voters," he said.
Newspapers, however, don’t have the time or capacity to cover
every race, according to Nick Williams, the deputy editor for the
editorial page of the Los Angeles Times.
"We’re not in the position – because of the changing news – to
give coverage to everything," he said.
The editorial board at The Times makes endorsements for
candidates after inviting the candidates to speak at the office and
presenting their platform at a meeting.
The paper ran one editorial on the state supreme court justices
on Oct. 19.
For the first time, Secretary of State Bill Jones has published
a guide for voters in the judicial elections – in printed form and
online.
"Frequently, California voters have little or no knowledge of
the … justices who are up for retention before they must vote on
election day," Jones stated in a letter preceding the guide.
On request, voters can get a judicial guide from Jones’ office.
It contains lists of jobs and educational experience of the
candidates, however, it lacks candidate statements, which other
elected partisan offices have. The Voter Registration Guide sent to
the homes of all registered voters includes information on the
justices.
With reports from Linh Tat, Daily Bruin Contributor.
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