Common

Cause Rhode Island would like to thank Representative Walsh for once again introducing this important piece of legislation. The authority of the judicial branch of government rests on its legitimacy; it has no police power, nor taxing authority. That is why it is of paramount importance that the people of Rhode Island have full faith in the system for selecting members of the judicial branch. This piece of legislation would put magistrates under the merit selection process just as all judges are today. Blacks Law Dictionary defines magistrates as, A judicial officer with strictly limited jurisdiction and authority. In Rhode Island magistrates in the various jurisdictions preside over court proceedings, sit on the bench, and wear the same robes as judges. Furthermore, the Code of Judicial Conduct for Rhode Island contains the following definition; Anyone. . . who is an officer of a judicial system and who performs judicial functions, including an officer such as a magistrate, court commissioner, special master or referee, is a judge within the meaning of this Code. The merit selection process was created in 1994 after two waves of scandal in the Rhode Island judiciary. It was created to minimize the role of politics in judicial selection. One way it achieves that goal is by making the process a transparent one, through public meetings, testimony and votes of the Judicial Nominating Commission. The current system for selecting magistrates occurs behind closed doors, and operates on an ad hoc basis. At the time the voters of Rhode Island put the merit selection system for judges in our state constitution, there were only five magistrates (then called masters) in our courts. Now there are at least 21. Many of those have been filled with highly political appointees, including the wife of a former House Speaker and a former Senate President, among others. There is considerable report for the idea that magistrates should be selected using the merit selection process, even among the courts themselves. In 2003 and 2005 the Rhode Island Senate passed a bill that would have put magistrates under the Judicial Nominating Commission, and the House let it die. Those bills were

Testimony of Common Cause Rhode Island on H 7086 Delivered by John Marion, Executive Director February 15, 2012

 sponsored by then Senate President Montalbano. In 2009 during the JNCs interviews of the candidates for Chief Justice, two were asked whether the magistrates should be part of the system, and they both answered in the affirmative. In 2005 the court system issued a report on the future of the courts and recommended a screening system similar to the JNC for magistrate selection. In 2007 the system for selecting magistrates was altered to make it somewhat more uniform (10 year terms that can be renewed, presiding/chief judge picks, Senate provides Advice and Consent). Were close to having a merit selection system for magistrates; we just need to pass this bill. We urge you to help renew the spirit of merit selection first established in 1994 and support H 7086.