It isn't often that Republicans, Democrats, independents, businesses and labor agree. But they have all joined forces to support a common-sense proposal, the Impartial Justice Act. This proposal would empower voters and restore accountability to judicial elections.
Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, is one of the co-authors of this bipartisan constitutional amendment, which is also supported by former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie, a Republican; former Vice President Walter Mondale, a Democrat; the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce; and the AFL-CIO.
This proposal would empower voters by establishing public performance evaluations about how a judge performs – no more turning over your ballot without access to information about judges.
It would restore accountability by establishing retention elections so that voters have the opportunity to vote on all judges – currently 90 percent of judges don't face re-election.
Lastly, it would ensure qualified and impartial judges by formally adopting a merit selection process for judges – a practice governors from Al Quie to Mark Dayton have used to select qualified and impartial judges.
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This is a good policy that would strengthen our courts, which citizens and businesses throughout the state rely on to be fair and impartial.
Thank you, Sen. Senjem, for your leadership on this issue.
John Wade
President
Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce
