Arkansas would be better off allowing the governor to appoint state Supreme Court justices rather than haing voters continue to elect them, Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, told a Senate committee Thursday.
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The Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee met Thursday to hear about some of the 1̶2̶ 11* constitutional amendments proposed by senators. The committee will make a recommendation to the full Senate. Proposed amendments from the Legislature will appear on the 2018 general election ballot.
At the outset of his remarks, Hutchinson acknowledged that he doesn't expect the committee to recommend his proposed constitutional amendment on appointment of justices. Some committee members spoke against his proposal.
Hutchinson later told reporters that it's likely the committee will recommend a tort-related amendment proposed by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, that would limit attorneys' contingency fees and punitive damages and give the Legislature control over the Supreme Court's rules. Irvin's amendment is Senate Joint Resolution 8.
Hutchinson, who is a nephew of Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, said his Senate Joint Resolution 4 would end the election of the seven justices and move to "an appointed system with lots of checks and balances."
"People have a right to elect them and that's a wonderful thing, and that should not be changed unless the people have no information on which to make a decision," Sen. Hutchinson said.
In recent Supreme Court elections, outside groups have "put in millions of dollars to elect one particular judicial candidate or another," he said. "They may have picked the right candidates. I won't pass judgment on whether or not the candidates have been beneficiaries of that. ...
"But even the beneficiaries of that outside money say that is bad for the system and bad for not just the judicial system, but the judicial system affects so much of what we do here in the Legislature and the people of Arkansas," Hutchinson said.
"The judicial nominating appointment system, I believe, would give people more influence on who is serving on the Supreme Court," he said.
Judicial appointments are one of the top issues that are debated in presidential elections, Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson's proposed amendment would become effective Jan. 1, 2019, if the Legislature referred it to voters and voters approved it. Justices elected before then would continue to serve until their terms expired. A justice appointed by the governor would serve a 14-year term. Terms are now eight years.
Under his proposal, Hutchinson said the governor would submit five candidates' names for a vacancy to the Judicial Nominating Commission. The commission would have three appointees from the governor and one each from the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore.
The commission would have the ability to strike two of the five candidates.
"I think [that] would prevent the governor from appointing some sycophant or lackey who just gave him a lot of campaign contributions," he said.
The commission would rank the candidates and "the governor would not be bound by the rankings," he said. The governor's appointee would be subject to state Senate confirmation.
But Sen. Terry Rice, R-Waldron, said he has asked numerous people if they were willing to give up their right to vote for justices and no one said they would. Also, there is a small pool of candidates qualified to serve as justice, he said.
Hutchinson said he thought his proposal would create a greater pool.
"You could have a really good lawyer down in Smackover, Ark., who would never, ever, ever be able to run statewide for the state Supreme Court. But his reputation is good down there. He has legislators making a recommendation [and from] his constituents. He gets put on the [list of] five [candidates] and then gets appointed. That expands the opportunity for people."
Hutchinson said candidates for justice generally are limited to those people "who are personally wealthy or has connections or is a sitting judge and has a good title in front of him."
But Irvin said Chief Justice Dan Kemp, who hails from her hometown, "did not have the resources or the backing."
"He really just worked off his butt, and so did his wife, and campaigns relentlessly," Irvin said. Kemp who defeated Justice Courtney Goodson for the chief justice position in the 2016 election.
Hutchinson said Kemp "did work his tail off" and "he was a fine circuit judge."
"But he did have $1.5 million spent on his back by an outside group and he may very well have won without it," he said. "But he wasn't somebody who spent $20,000 and won the state lottery."
But Irvin replied that "happens a lot" in these races, and the outside groups' freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Kemp could not be reached for comment by telephone Thursday night.
A Section on 02/10/2017
*CORRECTION: Senators have proposed 11 amendments. A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the number of amendments proposed by senators.