- RESOLUTION
WHEREAS,
judicial excellence depends on a highly qualified applicant pool from which judges are
selected, the experience and knowledge attained through lengthy judicial tenures, and the
maintenance of judicial autonomy and independence, and
WHEREAS, judicial
compensation is critical to obtaining qualified applicants, retaining experienced judges
and promoting judicial independence, and
WHEREAS, at some state
and local levels judicial salaries are inadequate, and
WHEREAS, judges should
not perpetually have to travel to the executive branch and the legislative branch, to
argue their case for judicial salary increases, and
WHEREAS, state or
community judicial commissions can ameliorate each of the previously mentioned fundamental
concerns,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,
RESOLVED,
that the American Judges Association, at its annual meeting this 25th day of September,
1997 at Anchorage, Alaska, calls upon the various state executive and legislative branches
of government to create judicial salary commissions to regularly address and enact
appropriate increases in judicial salaries to assure qualified applicants, retain
experienced judges, and promote judicial independence,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Governors, the Speakers of the Assembly and
the Presidents of the Senate in the thirty-three states without judicial commissions and
to any county or municipal government upon request of any member of the American Judges
Association.
Adopted September 25, 1997
Judge Jeffrey Rosinek, President
AJA Resolutions Committee
Gregory Barlow
Paul Beighle
Seymore Brown
Ann Pugh
Ira J. Raab, Chair
Resolution on Access to Justice and Protection of the Rights of People
- RESOLUTION
-
WHEREAS,
THE PROTECTION OF RIGHTS AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE are inherent rights of all people;
and
WHEREAS, without
access to the justice system, there is no justice, and the freedoms we celebrate today
would be nothing but words;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the
American Judges Association hereby declares that protection of rights and access to
justice of people who are poor, elderly, or with disabilities, are major goals that all
judges and lawyers should seek to provide and protect; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the American Judges
Association encourages the development of ways and means of implementing the above goals,
through activities that will improve the law, the legal system, and the administration of
justice, for all people, and more particularly the poor, the elderly, and people with
disabilities.
Adopted September 25, 1997
Judge Jeffrey Rosinek, President
AJA Resolutions Committee
Gregory Barlow
Paul Beighle
Seymore Brown
Ann Pugh
Ira J. Raab, Chair
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, court reporters
are officers of the court whose impartiality, as with judges, must remain utterly beyond
question in order to ensure the enduring confidence and faith from which our judicial
system derives its legitimacy; and
WHEREAS, some court
reporting firms are contracting directly with the parties in interest in litigation,
thereby circumventing counsel and their related ethical obligations to the courts; and
WHEREAS, those
arrangements allow the parties in interest to directly control the terms and conditions of
the court reporting services in a manner sometimes indistinguishable from an
employer-employee relationship; and
WHEREAS, certain of these
contracting arrangements require court reporters to provide special services to the paying
party in interest that are not available to the opposing parties in the litigation; and
WHEREAS, the National
Court Reporters Association has adopted a resolution to lobby at the state and federal
level, and work with its affiliated organizations and coalitions at the state level, to
seek the enactment of laws and court rules that will limit or prohibit contracting
arrangements in order to maintain the impartiality and independence of court reporters in
their capacity as officers of the court; and
WHEREAS, numerous states
(including, Hawaii, Georgia, Utah, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, West Virginia, Texas,
Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Alabama, Massachusetts, Montana, Rhode Island, and Ohio)
have recently enacted or are considering laws or court rules that prohibit or strictly
regulate contracting arrangements between parties in interest in litigation and court
reporters to ensure the impartiality of the court reporting profession specifically and
the integrity of the courts generally;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,
that the American Judges Association endorses legislative and judicial efforts to prevent
parties in interest from establishing any direct financial or other relationships with
court reporters which could create an appearance of partiality that is inimical to the
public’s faith in the fairness and impartiality of the judicial system.
Unanimously adopted April 24, 1998
Portland, Oregon
Judge Shirley Strickland-Saffold, President
AJA Resolutions Committee
Judge Ira J. Raab, Chair
Judge Seymore Brown, Co-Chair
Judge Pearle Appelman
Judge Paul Beighle
Judge George Greig
Judge Ann Pugh
Resolution on Court Security
- RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Court Security or the absence
thereof, is a serious problem facing federal, state and local courts of all jurisdictions;
and
WHEREAS, the media has reported on
numerous breaches of court security that resulted in serious injury and death; and
WHEREAS, the safety of spectators,
lawyers, court staff and judges is of primary concern of all judges;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,
that the President, Officers and the Executive Committee of the American Judges
Association, with a membership of 3,200 judges of all jurisdictions, at its Tucson,
Arizona, Executive Committee meeting, urges President William J. Clinton, the state
governors, the chief justices, the leaders of the federal and state legislatures and other
responsible funding agencies to increase funding to provide court security for those court
facilities that have no security programs, and to improve court security for those courts
which already have limited court security programs in place.
Duly Adopted, January 10, 1998
Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold, President
Officers & Executive Committee
AJA Resolutions Committee
Judge Paul Beighle
Judge James Heupel
Judge Ira J. Raab, Chair
To Support Portability Of Pension Assets
- RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the portability of pension
assets is important to the ability of the judiciary to attract qualified people to the
bench;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
the AJA supports the effort to increase the portability of pension assets and instructs
staff to take the necessary steps to involved the association in the effort.
Adopted September 4, 1998
Judge Paul Beighle, President
State-Federal Relations Committee
Judge Patricia Blackmon
Judge Douglas Voss
Judge Ron Garvin
Judge Toni Higginbotham
Judge Howard Kaufman
Judge Ira Raab
Judge Andrea Salas
Judge Anthony Sciarretta
Judge Chris Williams
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