LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson called Friday for a renewed debate on whether the state’s appellate judges should be appointed rather than popularly elected, a move that comes amid a high-profile split on the Supreme Court over a gay marriage case.
The Republican governor stopped short of specifically endorsing a plan to no longer elect members of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, but said he thinks it’s time to examine the possibility. Hutchinson said he still supports the election of local-level judges.
“I have always been a consistent advocate for the popular election of judges. I still hold true to that in terms of our district and circuit judges. I believe it is time to rethink that in terms of our appellate judges,” Hutchinson told members of the Pulaski County Bar Association.
Changing the way the judges are selected would require a voter-approved amendment to the Arkansas constitution. A proposed amendment to have Supreme Court justices appointed rather than elected failed to advance in this year’s legislative session. Hutchinson said he wants to talk with legislative leaders about the idea.
Hutchinson made the comments in response to a question by Scott Trotter, a Little Rock attorney who asked the governor whether he’d support forming a commission to examine the issue. Trotter said he proposed the idea partly due to the Supreme Court’s recent split over how to handle the lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ gay marriage ban.
Two members of the court – including the chief justice – this week accused others on the court of unnecessarily delaying a decision on whether gay marriage is legal by saying a new case on which justices can participate in the proceedings must be addressed first.
“It’s motivated by what is a perception of dysfunction on that court, and part of the dysfunction stems from the handling of that case,” Trotter told reporters.
Hutchinson, however, said his interest in merit selection of judges wasn’t related to any specific case.
“It’s certainly not any reflection on the current court at all,” the governor told reporters after his speech.
Hutchinson said he’s concerned that even though the judges are nonpartisan posts, parties could still try to claim candidates for the court as their own.
“I’ve been a longtime advocate of nonpartisan election of judges, and I think there’s a temptation whenever you don’t know people to re-partisan them,” Hutchinson said. “That’s what I don’t want to see happen.”
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)
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