| October 06, 2006 |
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| New Website Gives Public Easy Access to Judge Ratings |
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The Arizona Constitution requires that judges who are appointed to the bench through the merit selection process go through a formal and independent evaluation process each year their names appear on the ballot for retention. The evaluations, which apply to all superior court judges in Maricopa and Pima counties and all state appellate court judges, are conducted by Arizona's Commission on Judicial Performance Review (JPR Commission). The JPR Commission consists of members of the public, attorneys, and judges. Detailed ratings by thousands of Arizonans who appeared before the merit selected judges are now available online at www.azjudges.info.
Dr. Margaret Kenski, the Chairman of Arizona's Commission on Judicial Performance Review noted that the Commission considered ratings made by more than 13,000 court users. Litigants, witnesses, people who represented themselves, jurors, attorneys, and court staff completed the anonymous surveys. The Commission also considered comments made at public hearings held earlier this year and by the judges under review.
The JPR Commission voted on whether each judge who will be on the ballot "meets" or "does not meet" standards in the areas of legal ability, integrity, communication skills, judicial temperament and administrative performance. The vote was made using coded judge numbers assigned at an independent data center.
Voters may take a detailed look at the rankings for every applicable judge at www.azjudges.info and the JPR Commission's report also appears in the Secretary of State's Voter Information Guide, which is mailed to all Arizona voters.
All of the justices and judges whose names appear on the 2006 ballot were found to meet standards. Commenting on the results, Dr. Kenski said, "Given that all of the judges evaluated came to the court after being carefully evaluated through the comprehensive merit selection process, it is not surprising that the JPR Commission's finding reflect a high satisfaction with the quality and performance of Arizona judges."
Arizona voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1992 that created the Commission on Judicial Performance Review. The JPR Commission sets performance standards, decides whether a judge meets those standards, and publishes its findings for voters.
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