Tag Archives: supreme-court

Kansas faces ‘constitutional crisis’ with rural attorney shortage, Supreme Court justice says

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There is little doubt that there are parts of Canada as well as other states where obtaining a reasonably local attorney is difficult. Kansas faces ‘constitutional crisis’ with rural attorney shortage,Kansas Supreme Court justice KJ Wall recently said recently.at a news conference that released the findings of the Rural Justice Initiative.

Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert established the Rural Justice Initiative Committee on Dec. 1, 2022. The 35-member committee included judges, legislators, attorneys, educators, business leaders, and organizations that serve victims of sexual or domestic violence.

Luckert said at Friday’s news conference that she formed the committee after hearing from judges who said they couldn’t find attorneys who were qualified or willing to take cases, from attorneys who wanted to retire but didn’t want to leave their communities without legal help, and from local governments that struggled to hire a city or county attorney.

WHAT CAN A JUDGE SAY?

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A California judicial ethics committee on Tuesday issued a formal opinion with guidance for judges responding to public criticism during a judicial election or recall campaign.

The guidance was issued by the California Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions (CJEO)—a body which is appointed and authorized by, but works independently of, the California Supreme Court.

In CJEO Formal Opinion 2024-027, the committee analyzes the 2020 amendment to canon 3B(9) of the Code of Judicial Ethics, which permits, in connection with a judicial election or recall campaign, any judge to make a public comment about a pending proceeding, subject to certain restrictions. The committee outlines the ethical guardrails on the wider latitude judges now have to publicly respond to criticism:

  • The comment may not affect the outcome or fairness of the proceeding; and
  • It must be about the procedural, factual, or legal basis of a decision about which a judge has been criticized during an election or recall campaign.

The committee issued a draft of the opinion for public comment on August 5.

Canada’s Supreme Court has majority of women justices for 1st time

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Trust in the Canadian justice system depends on clear communication to the public, Canada’s newest Supreme Court justice said as she was officially welcomed to the country’s highest court.

A welcoming ceremony was held Monday for Justice Mary Moreau, who was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge in November.

Her appointment means a majority of the nine justices on the Supreme Court are women for the first time in its history.

Moreau was called the bar in Alberta in 1980, and served as a lawyer for 14 years. In 1994, she was appointed a judge to the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. She became the chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta in 1997.

During her speech, Moreau recounted how an experience early in her career as a judge shaped her professional beliefs.

She recalled when she first started working as a judge she overheard a senior colleague commenting on her age and professional experience.

“The only reply I could muster was, ‘Well, as my dear mother used to say, the proof is in the pudding.’ And it’s been my motto ever since.” For more of the story: https://www.hopestandard.com/national-news/canadas-supreme-court-has-majority-of-women-justices-for-1st-time-7319712