Debating the real meaning of Better Courts

If proponents of changes to the Missouri Court Plan want to raise money for a ballot initiative in 2010, they may have to find a new name for the campaign committee.

Supporters of keeping the state’s system of selecting judges intact organized the “Missourians for Better Courts” committee in late May, snatching up the name that had belonged to a group pushing to change the plan, according to records with the Missouri Ethics Commission. The original committee registration was terminated a year ago.

“If you have a name like Missourians for Better Courts, it seems like it would be with the people who want better courts, which are the courts that are right now protected from improper interference by the Nonpartisan Court Plan,” said Dale Doerhoff, a partner with Jefferson City firm Cook, Vetter, Doerhoff & Landwehr who is an active supporter of the current system.

James Harris, the leader of Better Courts for Missouri, said the appropriation of the name wouldn’t affect an initiative petition effort to change the plan.

“It’s very telling that trial lawyers cannot argue the merits, so they attack the message and do other kinds of juvenile things,” Harris said.

Harris said in early June that those wanting to revamp judicial selection are considering collecting voter signatures for a ballot measure in 2010. The measure would do away with the Missouri Plan entirely and move to a federal model of direct appointment by the governor with state Senate confirmation.

Under the current approach, appointed commissions interview judicial candidates for the state’s appellate and metropolitan circuit courts. The Appellate Judicial Commission includes three lawyers, three gubernatorial appointees and a state Supreme Court judge. They send three finalists to the governor, who must choose from that list.

— Staff reporter Kelly Wiese contributed information to this article