Missouri Plan, Wedge Issues, and "Someone's Gonna Get Their Eye Put Out"

As written here before, the Republican efforts to undermine the Missouri Plan are simply the latest cynical attempt by political insiders like Jeff Roe to create a wedge issue. Informed, thoughtful voters on both sides of the aisle recognize that further injecting electoral politics into judicial selection will undermine the independence of the judiciary, to the disservice of all. But certain political insiders care less about the damage done to the state's legal system than they do about driving mobs of misinformed Neanderthals to the polls intent on driving out the "activist judges".

Whenever the rough-housing among her six children would begin getting rough, my mother would warn, "It's all fun and games until someone gets their eye put out." It was her wise way of encouraging us to look down the road and see how escalation of nudges to pushes to shoves to pokes was going to lead to an all-out donnybrook. As the youngest boy, I learned to appreciate the warning, since I usually came out the worst for the wear.

Folks, wedge issues are all fun and games until someone gets their eye put out. I understand that those of us who enjoy politics enjoy the prospect of a good wedge issue. I'll agree that the point of the minimum wage issue on the ballot in 2006 was only partially about raising hourly rates for workers - it was also about portraying the Republicans as heartless class warriors keeping the little guy down. Similarly, only a few of the originators of the gay marriage amendment in 2004 really cared about gay marriage - it was mostly about getting fearful conservatives to the polls.

Some people came out of these earlier scrapes with some bruises, but no eyes were put out. Fast-food restaurants have managed to avoid the economic apocalypse they feared, and the gay community lost a right it never had in Missouri.

But this time the inter-party rough-housing is threatening to put out an eye. We've had a judicial selection process that has worked for decades, through Republican governors and Democratic governors. It was good enough for Governors Carnahan and Teasdale, and it was good enough for Governors Bond and Ashcroft. We don't have nasty, expensive campaigns funded by trial lawyers and insurance companies for Supreme Court judges, the way they do in some other states, and we don't want them.

Yesterday, I received the following press release from a group dedicated to preserving the Missouri Plan. I'm reprinting it in its entirety, because I think it's an important issue that all Missourians need to pay close attention to.

Coalition Names Six Former Chiefs as Honorary Co-chairs as List of Member Organizations Continues to Grow
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

JEFFERSON CITY — Following a summer fraught with criticism of the method by which a slot on Missouri’s Supreme Court would be filled, six former chief justices of the Court have joined an organization formed to protect Missouri’s nonpartisan court plan and preserve the independence of the judiciary.

“Having served as chair of the Appellate Judicial Commission during my tenure as chief justice, I know the plan works to keep politics out of the judicial selection process,” said John Holstein in agreeing to support Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts. “It troubles me that there are forces at work intent on injecting politics back into the process.”
Holstein, an appointee of Gov. John Ashcroft who served on the high court from 1989 through 2002 and as chief justice from 1995-97, joins five other former chief justices who have agreed to serve as honorary co-chairs for Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts.
The other co-chairs:

* The Honorable Jack Bardgett – appointed by Gov. Warren Hearnes (D), served as chief justice from 1979-81.
* The Honorable Ann Covington, appointed by Gov. Ashcroft (R), served as chief justice from 1993-95.
* The Honorable Andrew Jackson Higgins, appointed by Gov. Joe Teasdale (D), served as chief justice from 1985-87.
* The Honorable Edward “Chip” Robertson, appointed by Gov. Ashcroft (R), served as chief justice from 1991-93.
* The Honorable Ronnie White, appointed by Gov. Mel Carnahan (D), served as chief justice from 2003-05.


“As former chief justices of the Missouri Supreme Court, we believe that Missourians depend on fair and impartial courts to provide stable and rational resolution of disputes, protect property and economic interests, and, when needed, protect people from the overreaching of government,” said Covington, the first woman to hold the position of chief justice on the court.

Through their involvement with Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts, the former chiefs will advocate for Missouri’s courts to remain accountable to the constitution and the laws of the state — not political pressure and special interests. For nearly 70 years, Missouri has been a model for the nation, creating a nonpartisan method for selecting judges that nominates judicial candidates based not on political party affiliation, but on merit. They are devoted to protecting Missouri courts from attacks by a small group of politicians and special interest groups.

“Unfortunately, Missouri’s highly respected nonpartisan court plan is under attack by special interests who believe that some other process – some politically-driven process – would produce judges of the same quality that now serve Missouri’s citizens as the final arbiters of the law,” said White, who retired from the court in July. “Justice should be fair and impartial. The Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan should be preserved to protect our individual rights.”

As the six former court chiefs join forces with Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts, membership in the broad-based coalition continues to grow, including nearly 40 business, education, religious, professional and consumer groups such as AARP Missouri, Missouri National Education Association, Committee for Economic Development and the Missouri Municipal League, in addition to a number of legal organizations.

“Our diverse membership proves that this isn’t an issue that matters only to attorneys and judges,” said Landon Rowland, Committee for Economic Development trustee. “Our system of judicial selection seeks the best qualified judges while maximizing independence and still allows a degree of direct accountability to Missourians.

“There’s a reason so many other state governments have adopted parts of the Missouri Plan – because it works.