Interstate 70
EXIT 126
School of Law
University of Missouri
Providence Rd.
E. Rollins
Road
Missouri Avenue
Turner Av
enue
Maryland Avenue
Providence Rd.
Downtown Columbia
Conley Av
enue
Hulston Hall
Cornell Hall
✮ Directions to John K. Hulston Hall and
Harry and Ann Cornell Hall
A Review of
State Judicial Selection
and Retention Systems
Missouri Avenue
Maryland Avenue
Providence Rd.
From Interstate 70
Exit at Providence Road and turn south
Left onto Rollins Road after 1.75 miles
Left onto Maryland Ave
Left onto Turner Ave
Next right to Turner Avenue Garage
Conley Av
enue
Visitor parking
Levels
3, 6 and 7.
From the garage
Hulston Hall
Turner Av
enue John K. Hulston Hall,
2 blocks east
to
corner of Missouri and Conley Avenues
E. Rollins
1 block east
toRoHarry
and Ann Cornell Hall,
ad
Cornell Hall
corner of Rollins Road and Maryland Avenue
✮ Cost and Registration
There is no fee for the symposium.
The panels are open to the public,
but registration is requested by
Friday, February 20, 2009.
To register, please contact:
Missouri Law Review
University of Missouri School of Law
15 Hulston Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
mulawsymposium@missouri.edu
www.law.missouri.edu/lawreview
Seating
for the Earl is limited
F. Nelso
Attendees n Lecture.
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present a tic st
to gain entra ket
nce
✮ Continuing Legal Education Credit
This symposium is approved for 9.0 hours of mandatory
continuing legal education credit in the state of Missouri.
School of Law
University of Missouri School of Law students
lead many successful organizations and law
journals, including the Missouri Law Review.
The law review, an entirely student-run journal, is
one of the oldest legal publications west of the
Mississippi. The articles featured in this year’s
symposium will appear in the summer issue of
volume 74 in fall 2009. Domestic subscriptions are
available for $40; international subscriptions are $45.
To view recent issues or request a subscription, please see
www.law.missouri.edu/lawreview or call 573-882-7055.
University of Missouri
John K. Hulston Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
✮ About the Missouri Law Review
2009 Earl F. Nelson Lecture
presented by
Sandra Day O’Connor, Retired Justice
Supreme Court of the United States
February 27, 2009
Photo courtesy of Dane Penland,
Smithsonian Institution,
Collection of the Supreme Court
of the United States
University of Missouri School of Law John K. Hulston Hall Columbia, MO 65211 www.law.missouri.edu
Mulling over the Missouri Plan:
A Review of State Judicial Selection and Retention Systems
Photo courtesy of
Dane Penland,
Smithsonian Institution,
Collection of the Supreme Court
of the United States
2009 Earl F. Nelson Lecture
✮ 8:15 a.m.
ncreasingly, politicians, academics and
attorneys passionately debate the systems
of selecting and retaining state judges. The
Missouri Plan was originally conceived and adopted
by many states to eliminate, or at least reduce, the
role of politics in judicial selection and decision-making. Yet the recent debate has been almost entirely
political and has led to new special interest groups,
expensive media campaigns and legislation promising
reform.
The intention of the Missouri Plan, also known as a
merit selection plan, is to provide for the selection
of judges based on merit, rather than on political
affiliation. Under the plan as applied in Missouri, a
nonpartisan judicial commission made up of attorneys
appointed by the bar, lay citizens appointed by the
governor and the Missouri Chief Justice, nominate
a pool of judges from which the governor selects.
Since its inception, the Missouri Plan has served as
a national model for the selection of judges and has
been adopted in various forms in more than 30 other
states. As such, the debate over whether to preserve,
repeal or reform the Missouri Plan in its mother state
will have national implications.
Bringing together some of the nation’s most prominent scholars, federal and state judges, lawyers
and students alike, the 2009 Missouri Law Review
Symposium, “Mulling over the Missouri Plan: A
Review of State Judicial Selection and Retention
Systems,” seeks to infuse an academic perspective into
an already heated debate.
Recent developments have raised a number of questions to be addressed by the symposium participants:
What are the effects of special interest influence
on the selection and election of judges and judicial
decision-making in the pursuit of the balance between
independence and accountability? How well do retention votes work to balance judicial independence with
the will of the public in a merit-selection system?
What are the arguments for reforming the Missouri
Plan? Who are the constituencies urging reform or
preservation? What is the best way to preserve fair
and impartial state courts?
presented by
Introduction and Welcome
John K. Hulston Hall Courtroom
Dean Larry Dessem of the University of Missouri
School of Law
Roy A. Schotland
✮ 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel I
Special Interest Influence: Balancing
Independence and Accountibility
John K. Hulston Hall Courtroom
Michael R. Dimino Sr.
Rafael Gely
A discussion of the ways special interest is manifested
in the selection and election of state judges,
whether through political parties, contributors or
other constituencies. Of particular importance to
the discussion of this panel is the way state judicial
selection systems are structured to avoid undue
influence while providing both judicial independence
and a measure of accountability.
Presenters
Roy A. Schotland
Georgetown University Law Center
Michael R. Dimino Sr.
Widener University School of Law
Rafael Gely
University of Missouri School of Law
Michael E. Solimine
Michael E. Solimine
University of Cincinnati School of Law
Commentators
Anthony Champagne
University of Texas at Dallas School of Economic,
Political and Policy Sciences
Lee Epstein
Northwestern University School of Law
Anthony Champagne
Seating
for the Earl F. is limited
Nelson
Attendees mu Lecture.
present a tic st
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to gain entra t
nce
Lee Epstein
✮ 1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Sandra Day O’Connor, Retired Justice
Supreme Court of the United States
Panel II
Retention Elections in a Merit-Selection
System: Balancing the Will of the Public with
the Need for Judicial Independence
and Accountability
G. Alan Tarr
John K. Hulston Hall Courtroom
A discussion of the measures taken and proposed
to structure meaningful retention elections in meritselection systems under the influence of increasing
advertising campaigns. Of importance to this panel
are the meaningfulness of judicial performance evaluations and the effects of these elections on judicial
independence, accountability and free speech.
W. Duane Benton
Presenters
Penny J. White
University of Tennessee College of Law
Rachel Paine Caufield
Drake University Department of Politics
and International Relations
Charlie J. Harris
G. Alan Tarr
Rutgers University-Camden Department
of Political Science
Commentators
Judge W. Duane Benton
8th Circuit Court of Appeals
Charlie J. Harris
Immediate Past President, The Missouri Bar
Stephen J. Ware
✮ 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
PANEL III
The Fallacies and Fixables of Merit
Selection and the Constituencies That
Support Missouri Plan Reform
Laura Denvir Stith
John K. Hulston Hall Courtroom
A discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the
Missouri Plan, including special interest influence on
nominating committees, reform efforts and alternatives,
and the constituencies involved in the Missouri Plan
debate.
Brian T. Fitzpatrick
Presenters
✮ 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
2009 Earl F. Nelson
Lecture
Penny J. White
Bush Auditorium
Harry and Ann Cornell Hall
Sandra Day O’Connor
Retired Justice
Supreme Court of the United States
Rachel Paine-Caulfield
Stephen J. Ware
University of Kansas School of Law
Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith
Supreme Court of Missouri
Brian T. Fitzpatrick
Vanderbilt University Law School
Michael E. DeBow
Commentators
Michael E. DeBow
Samford University Cumberland School of Law
Mary L. Volcansek
Texas Christian University Department
of Political Science
Mary L. Volcansek