{"id":259,"date":"2006-11-04T19:08:27","date_gmt":"2006-11-04T23:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2006\/11\/04\/is-self-help-an-issue-in-judicial-elect"},"modified":"2006-11-06T12:32:59","modified_gmt":"2006-11-06T16:32:59","slug":"is-self-help-an-issue-in-judicial-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2006\/11\/04\/is-self-help-an-issue-in-judicial-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"is self-help an issue in judicial elections?"},"content":{"rendered":"

While most eyes are on legislative races this weekend, candidates are also seeking to win or retain judicial seats in many states, across the nation.\u00a0\u00a0 Although we should have started sooner, it’s not too late\u00a0to ask whether dealing with the oft-sited\u00a0“pro se<\/em> crisis” is being addressed in judicial elections.\u00a0 In a posting<\/a> on October 10th, we were pleased to see that candidates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had been asked how to make their courts more “user-friendly,” and that at least one candidate stressed the need to improve self-help assistance and to raise small claims dollar limits.<\/font><\/p>\n

A quick bit of Googling this afternoon\u00a0suggests, however, that\u00a0expanding or establishing Self-Help Centers and similar services is not an issue on\u00a0the radar screen of most judicial candidates.\u00a0 Some questionnaires given to the incumbents and challengers (like this one<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0King County, WA,\u00a0Bar Association)\u00a0are amazingly issue-free, offering\u00a0candidates little more than space to create rambling\u00a0resumes.\u00a0 Others\u00a0(see this one<\/a> out of Illinois) are thinly disguised\u00a0propaganda pieces on social or political topics.\u00a0\u00a0<\/font>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\"MinnesotaMap\"\u00a0Having limited resources (can you say “one tired guy”?), I decided to focus on one\u00a0state,\u00a0choosing Minnesota, which\u00a0offers a nice\u00a0mix of urban and rural settings, and has an active but not comprehensive self-help program already in existence (such as the two\u00a0Hennepin County [Minneapolis]\u00a0<\/font>self-help centers<\/font><\/a>, and a statewide website<\/a>).\u00a0 My source is the <\/font>Minnesota Lawyer<\/a><\/em><\/font> Judicial Elections 2006<\/a> website.\u00a0\u00a0 Although there are dozens of judgeships up for election this year, only seven districts have contested\u00a0 trial court races.\u00a0\u00a0 No issue-oriented informaiton is provided for the uncontested judgeships.\u00a0\u00a0 The questionnaire used by Minnesota Lawyer<\/em> has one set of questions that gives the candidate the opportunity to raise the self-help or access-to-justice issue:\u00a0 “What are the major issues facing the court on which you wish to serve?” and “How can these realistically be addressed?”<\/font><\/font><\/div>\n
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Of the fourteen rural and urban candidates, a dozen completely failed to raise the self-help\/pro se<\/em> issue, although many complained of caseloads that were too high and resources that are too scarce.\u00a0[One\u00a0judge<\/a>, having served on the bench for over 27 years, responded “I don’t believe there are any” major issues facing his court.] \u00a0\u00a0Two candidates (Benanav<\/a> and Savre<\/a>) did mention using ADR\/mediation to expedite cases.\u00a0 But only sitting Hennepin County\u00a0Judge John Q. McShane<\/a> and his opponent Kevin J. Kolosky<\/a>\u00a0directly addressed the topics.\u00a0Judge McShane stated:\u00a0<\/font>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

What are the major issues facing the court on which you serve?<\/strong>
\nAccess to justice is one of the major issues. We must ensure that the justice system is and is perceived to be fair, responsive, timely, open and effective to the people it serves. People must believe that they have had their day in court; that a judge heard their story. Public confidence in the judiciary is also an important issue. All Minnesotans must believe that they are being treated fairly in our courts. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

How can these realistically be addressed?<\/strong>
\nEach judge must take the necessary time to hear and fairly consider the matter that is before him or her. Specialized courts, such as drug court, community court or domestic violence courts are particularly effective in ensuring an effective resolution of the matter being heard. Statewide race data collection and review in criminal, juvenile and traffic proceedings help ensure that all Minnesotans are being treated fairly in our courts.<\/font><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also noted that “I am most proud of the cases in which the participants have thanked me for being respectful and listening and letting them tell their story.”\u00a0 His opponent, attorney Kolosky responded: <\/font><\/p>\n

What are the major issues facing the court on which you wish to serve?<\/strong>
\nThe Hennepin County District Court serves a very large and very diverse population base. The challenge is, and always will be, to provide fair and efficient service to the ever-increasing number of people and entities that come before the court to have their disputes settled. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

How can these realistically be addressed?<\/strong>
\nFair means to provide adequate services for those who do not understand the court system and those who cannot afford legal representation. Continued expansion of self-help centers with adequate interpreters and support staff would be a goal. I still believe that Hennepin County should institute a night court for those who have extreme difficulty in making it to court during the daytime hours. . . . .<\/font><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bravo to McShane and Kolosky.\u00a0But, the situation is indeed dispiriting. \u00a0It’s hard to justify the failure of the other incumbents and challengers to address the access\/pro-se<\/em> issue, which is palpable in every courthouse.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s difficult\u00a0to believe they simply don’t care.\u00a0 Are they afraid to offend the bar or holding onto resentment over pro se<\/em> parties?\u00a0\u00a0 Do they believe the public in general is apathetic?\u00a0 What do you think?\u00a0\u00a0 How can we make sure that future campaigns and questionnaires help to focus the spotlight on self-help law in judicial elections? [update <\/em>(Nov. 6, 2006): thanks to Edward Still at Votelaw<\/a><\/em> for\u00a0including this post in Blawg Review #82<\/a><\/em>, which\u00a0links to a lot of recent weblog commentary on the 2006 elections, and other “blawg” highlights from last week.]\u00a0<\/font><\/p>\n

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While most eyes are on legislative races this weekend, candidates are also seeking to win or retain judicial seats in many states, across the nation.\u00a0\u00a0 Although we should have started sooner, it’s not too late\u00a0to ask whether dealing with the oft-sited\u00a0“pro se crisis” is being addressed in judicial elections.\u00a0 In a posting on October 10th, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[991],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-items"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}