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71 Judicature 48 (1987-1988)
Acting Responsibly: Journalists and Judicial Performance Surveys

handle is hein.journals/judica71 and id is 50 raw text is: Although bar associations are usually the ones to conduct judicial evaluation surveys, there is no reason the media, in an effort to inform and educate the public, cannot do so just as well. The Shreveport Journal's surveys are a case in point. by Norman A. Dolch and Norman W. Provizer C loaked in the priestly black robes of symbol and masked by the technical jargon of profes- sional practice, judges often ap- pear to work in a world quite separate- though never truly divorced-from pub- lic scrutiny. Even at the state level, where the vast majority of judges are subject to some variant of the electoral process, judicial selection generally retains a spe- cial, shadow-like quality that sets it apart from the more overtly political branches of government. Judicial elections, in short, tend to be low-keyed, low-turnout and low-information affairs in which few people are turned out of office.' There is, of course, an ongoing (and perhaps unresolvable) debate concerning the accountability of judges in a demo- cratic society. For courts and the judges who sit at their helms, the values of neu- tral competence, institutional integrity and autonomy connected to the rule of law offer legitimate counterweights to the idea of democratic accountability and its companion concepts of representa- tiveness and responsiveness. This debate, however, has not prevented bar associa- tions from entering the arena of judging judges. According to a survey published in 1977, nearly 50 per cent of local bar associations and close to 40 per cent of state associations conducted judicial per- formance polls, with local organizations giving such efforts a high-priority rat- ing.2 Belonging, as they do, to the same profession as judges, lawyers have been viewed as the most logical source of information on the judiciary. Yet bar associations are not the only mechanisms that exist to gather the judgments of law- yers on judicial performance. In 1980 and again in 1984, the after- noon newspaper in Shreveport, Louisi- ana, conducted its own judicial perfor- mance surveys, focusing on the state district court. If one accepts the proposi- tion that the press should serve the politi- cal system by generating information, discussion, and debate on public affairs by enlightening the public so as to make it capable of self-government,' then media involvement as a data-gatherer and information-provider on judicial per- formance is an activity that can serve a useful purpose, especially when bar asso- ciations exhibit a reluctance to directly enter the fray, as was the case in Shreve- port. The local bar association (lid not want to become politically involved-it was concerned with rocking the judicial boat and possibly arousing the ire of judges-therefore it refused to cooperate in the initial survey in any way. By the time of the second survey, the association, while declining to co-sponsor the activ- ity, did provide the newspaper with a membership list and urged its members to complete the survey. The association further stated in 1984 that in the future it would conduct its own judicial surveys with the results released to the media. But that interest, clearly stimulated by the newspaper's effort, seemed to wane rap- idly and to date the local bar association has failed to conduct such a survey. McKnigh t, Schaefer and Johnson have, in this regard, proposed that if the bar assumed a more concerned role in in- forming the public about judicial can- didates, our elective system might func- tion more effectively.... One of the I. See, for example, Neubauer, AMERICAS COURTS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM 161-62 (North Scituate, MA: Duxbury Press, 1979); Jacob, JUSTICE IN AMERICA, 3rd Edition 113-'t (Boston: Little, Brown, 1978); and Abraham, 'IE JUDICIAl. PROCESS, 4th Edition 35 (New York: Oxford Univer- sicy Press, 1980). 2. Guterman and Meidinge, IN T E OPINION OF THlE BAR 20-22 (Chicago: The Atnerican Judicature Society, 1977). A study published in 1981 estimates that some 100 bar associations conduct judicial polls (Slonim, Bar Association Judicial Polls: Do They Make a Difference?, 6 BAR LEADER 18 (1981)). Also see, Flanders, Evaluating judges: how should the bar do it, 61 JUDICATURE 304 (1978); Philips, Ilow BAR ASSOCIATIONS EVALUATE SIFIING JUDGES (New York: InstituIte of Judicial Administration, 1976); and Maddi, JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE POLLS (Chicago: American Bar Foundation, 1977). 3. Peterson, The Social Responsibility Theory in Siebert et. al., FOUR TIIEORIES OF TIlE PRESS (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1956). Other newspapers, from the Baltimore Sun to the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune, have followed this path regarding judicial surveys with inixed results. 4. McKnight, Schaeffer and Johnson, Choosing judges: do the voters know what they're doing, 62 JUDICATURE 98 (1978). 48 Judicature Volume 71, Number 1 June-July, 1987

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