Meeting Notice - January 12, 2007
	Meeting Agenda - January 12, 2007

Francisco Grande Hotel & Golf Resort

26000 W. Gila Bend Highway

Casa Grande, Arizona 85222

PRESENT:

Roberta Voss (Chair), Mike Hellon (Vice Chair), Edna Aragon-Morris, Judge Daniel Barker, Judge Ted Borek, Rohan Braithwaite, Sylvia Brandfon, Richard Cosgrove, Judge Pendleton Gaines, Barbara Glenn, Eugene Goldsmith, Margaret Kenski, Rick Naimark, Jeffrey Nordensson, Judge John Pelander, Josephine Polk-Matthews, William Poorten, Shirley Sandelands, Claire Scheuren, Dee Sirkis, Tom Smith, Henry Varga, Judge Maria Verdin, and Ronald Watson

ABSENT:  

Dr. Catherine Eden, Marc Lieberman, Ron Ober and Carl Piccarreta

STAFF:  Niki O'Keeffe, Annette Corallo

I.          CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTION OF MEMBERS:

Roberta Voss called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. She welcomed Mike Hellon as the new Vice Chair and new members Edna Aragon-Morris, Shirley Sandelands and Josephine Polk-Matthews.  She reported that an appointment of a Superior Court judge to succeed Judge Sabalos, whose term expired, is still pending.

II.         APPROVAL OF JUNE 23, 2006 AND JULY 12, 2006 MEETING MINUTES:

III.        JPR COMMISSION OVERVIEW:

Annette Corallo gave an overview of the materials each member was provided for the meeting which included a website usage report, a proposed change in the appellate court JPR procedure, draft meeting minutes for June 23 and July 12, 2006, the 2007-2008 JPR event schedule, the December 2006 issue of the Judicial Branch Newsletter, a full set of the JPR rules of procedure and 2006 JPR survey statistics.

IV.        DISCUSSION ITEMS:

Declining Attorney Response

The Commission discussed the declining number of surveys returned by attorneys and whether or not an ethical rule should be proposed that would require attorneys to return their surveys.  It was decided that further education with emphasis on the confidentiality of the process is preferable to an ethical rule requiring attorneys to return their surveys.  Judges Borek and Pelander recommended forming a workgroup to investigate online survey distribution as a possible way to increase attorney participation.

Reliability of Survey Data

The Commission discussed the reliability and accuracy of the data gathered from the surveys.  Judge Gaines suggested an audit of the process to ensure the reliability of the data.

Margaret Kenski, Ronald Watson, Edna Aragon-Morris, Eugene Goldsmith and Claire Scheuren volunteered to participate on the workgroup, with Claire Scheuren serving as workgroup chair, and to provide preliminary information at the next meeting.

Survey Questions

The commission discussed whether any of the survey questions should be changed.

Barbara Glenn, Judge Ted Borek, Dee Sirkis and Rohan Braithwaite volunteered to participate on the workgroup, with Barbara Glenn to serve as workgroup chair.

JPR Reports to Presiding Judges

The Commission discussed when the JPR reports should be sent to the presiding judges and how to resolve the conflict within the rules on release of confidential information before the Commissions vote.  It was moved and seconded that a rule change be recommended prohibiting the release of information until after the public vote.  After further discussion, the motion was withdrawn until further information is gathered on the history of the process of providing reports to presiding judges before the Commission's vote.  Staff was directed to contact the presiding judges for their input before the next meeting.

Increasing Litigant/Witness Survey Responses

Recommendations for increasing litigant/witness survey responses will be included in the research done by the workgroup on survey processes.

Should Appellate Court Judges Complete a Peer Survey?

The Commission discussed Chief Judge Gemmill's letter recommending that the appellate court judges no longer rate each other.  Judge Pelander reported that the Division II judges do not see a need to discontinue the peer reviews.  After discussion, there was consensus that the Commission wished to continue the peer survey process.  Roberta Voss agreed to write a response letter to Judge Gemmill expressing that the JPR Commission understands and sympathizes with the concerns stated in his letter, but finds the information valuable enough to retain the peer survey process.

Voter Education Issues

Jeff Nordensson, Bill Poorten, Shirley Sandelands and Judge Barker volunteered to participate on the workgroup, with Jeff Nordensson to serve as workgroup chair.

JPR Funding

Jeff Nordensson raised the possibility of seeking private funding for JPR voter information efforts. Edna Aragon-Morris suggested that private funding can be donated to the state for the purpose of contributing to the Judicial Performance Review efforts.  Niki O'Keeffe agreed to look into the matter further and report her findings at the next meeting.

White vs. Minnesota

Margaret Kenski questioned how the personal opinions of judges will be viewed in the future based on the case of White vs. Minnesota related to balancing the First Amendment rights of judicial candidates to speak publicly about their beliefs, balanced against the right of the public to an impartial judiciary.

Website Usage

The Commission discussed the website usage reports supplied by Annette Corallo.

V.         NEXT MEETING DATE/MEETING LOCATION:

            Date:               March 9, 2007

            Time:               9:00 a.m. 

            Location:        Francisco Grande Hotel

                                    26000 West Gila Bend Highway

                                    Casa Grande, Arizona

VI.      ADJOURNMENT:

At 11:50 a.m., it was moved, seconded and passed unanimously that the meeting be adjourned.