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CONFERENCE HELD AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer is attending a conference in Washington, D.C. today and Friday on a topic that he has championed for many years – fair and impartial courts.
The conference, sponsored by Georgetown University School of Law and the American Law Institute, features remarks by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Stephen Breyer, and retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, as well as U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. Chief Justice Moyer will serve as a small group judicial facilitator.
The event is intended to facilitate a dialogue about the value of a fair and impartial judiciary, bringing together leaders in business, media, education and nonprofit sectors to develop recommendations for strengthening the future of the judiciary. Conference sessions examine the fundamental misunderstanding about the role of courts in the nation, among other topics.
“Ohio is one of only 20 states that elect all their judges at every level from the trial courts to the Supreme Court,” Chief Justice Moyer said. “I have long supported reforms to this current system, including a constitutional amendment to create an appointive-elective system.”
Moyer is opposed to campaign contributions to judges not because they influence decisions, he says, but because they lead people to believe that they do. He has called for Ohio to join other states that select judges of their highest court in a manner that eliminates, or substantially diminishes, the perception of influence created by costly political campaigns.
There have been calls to change this system. Moyer favors a plan in which justices would be appointed by the governor, who would choose from among three candidates proposed by a diverse, impartial and nonpartisan selection panel, a majority of whom would be non-lawyers. The justices would then stand for election after serving one or two years and, if retained, would complete the balance of a fixed term of 10 or 12 years. This plan has been proposed before in Ohio and was defeated on a statewide ballot in 1938 and 1987.
“When a citizen stands before a judge or a panel of judges they expect that person or panel to be impartial,” Chief Justice Moyer said. “The foundation of a constitutional democracy is impartial courts.”
For a high resolution, publication-quality photo of Chief Justice Moyer, please click on the above photo or visit: http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/Communications_Office/Press_Releases/images/justices/moyer_highres.zip
Contact: Andrea M. Strle at 614.387.9250.