Idaho Supreme Court candidates push reputation, reform

Previous election campaigns for the Idaho Supreme Court bench have garnered a reputation for being nasty affairs, complete with contentious advertisements and bitter feelings.

But so far the race between incumbent Idaho Supreme Court Justice Joel Horton and his challenger, 2nd District Judge John Bradbury, is anything but.

"It's a good reminder that we are responsible for making the decisions that affect the welfare of a million and a half people in this state," Horton said of the upcoming election. "So it's a good opportunity to meet people, see what their concerns are and let them know what it's like to be a Supreme Court Justice. It's certainly positive."

Bradbury, meanwhile, says he has no quarrel with Horton's actions on the bench.

"He's a good judge. I'm not running against him, I'm running against the system," Bradbury said.

Horton was appointed to the bench by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter in September to replace retiring Justice Linda Copple-Trout, who said she was stepping down so she wouldn't have to endure another possible election-year challenge.

Despite all the politeness, the two do have dramatically different approaches to their roles as judges.

Horton promotes educating Idaho's judiciary about effective caseload management as a way to help the courts cope with a caseload that is growing as fast as the state's expanding population. Giving judges ongoing education and the tools to fight burnout is crucial for maintaining and improving the courts, Horton said.

"The courts are being asked to take on more and more complex social problems and you're seeing them respond in a fashion that is almost revolutionary - creating drug courts, domestic violence courts, mental health courts," Horton said. "The Supreme Court can continue to encourage judges to do that and continue to work with the Legislature to seek the upfront resources required."

Bradbury is calling for court reform. He maintains that district courts should stay open nights and weekends to make them more convenient for the public.

"The difference is between institutional comfort and providing a service," Bradbury said. "Why should you have to give up a day's pay to fight a parking ticket? Why don't we have electronic filing? Why should I or you or any lawyer have to go to the courthouse to look at records?"

Ordering the counties to make wholesale changes to the way they run their courthouses isn't appropriate, Horton said.

"The counties are charged with finding facilities for the courts. I don't think it would be wise for the Supreme Court to be instructing county commissioners that they need to keep the courts open nights and weekends and add additional staff - clerks, security, other personnel - for those extra hours," Horton said. "Those sorts of decisions ought to be made at the local level based on local needs rather than imposed by the Idaho Supreme Court, assuming we had the authority to do that."

The candidates are at odds over the results of the Idaho State Bar's survey. For contested supreme court elections, the bar sends questionnaires to its members asking them to rate the candidates on a 1 to 4 scale, with a score of 4 meaning that the candidate exceeds expectations in a specific area and 1 meaning the candidate does not meet expectations.

Horton outscored Bradbury by nearly a point in every category: Integrity and independence, knowledge and understanding of the law, judicial temperament and demeanor, and legal ability and experience. In total, Bradbury's lowest score was 2.36 for judicial temperament and demeanor, and his highest was 2.59 for integrity and independence. Horton's lowest score was 3.30 for temperament and demeanor and his highest was 3.49 for knowledge and understanding of the law.

Not surprisingly, Horton said the survey was the best way for the public to get a sense of the candidates.

"I think what it comes down to is this: There are certain traits that you look for in a judge or justice," Horton said. "And not to rely overmuch on a bar poll, but realistically the folks that know us best, the lawyers, pretty clearly identified which of us is better qualified to serve in this position."

But Bradbury, who is a judge in the mostly rural 2nd District, criticized the survey as a popularity contest, pointing out that 203 people of the 473 who responded said they didn't know him. Only 55 of the respondents said they didn't know Horton, who worked as a judge in the highly populated 4th District before ascending to the Supreme Court.

The Idaho State Bar attempts to balance the poll by only scoring the responses for each judge from bar members who say that they know those judges. In this survey, Bradbury's scores were averaged from about 227 surveys, and Horton's scores were averaged from about 380 surveys. Still, Bradbury said, the survey is done anonymously with no proof that those responding actually know the candidates.

"It's grossly unfair ... to say I'm not qualified in any of the categories is dishonest, because they don't know anything about me but they're representing by their vote that they do," Bradbury said.

The Idaho Supreme Court Justice election is held as part of the Idaho primary, on May 27. The vote in May is the final vote for the justice seat - there is no runoff in the general fall election.