Missouri Governor Blunt Commends Chief Justice Stith for Steps Towards Increased Transparency

February 6, 2008 -- JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri Governor Matt Blunt today issued the following statement commending Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith for her announcement that the Judicial Appellate Commission will move towards a more transparent selection process.

“I commend Judge Stith for taking action to address some of the concerns I raised last summer about the Commission’s process of selecting Supreme Court judges.

“Because the Supreme Court holds such an important place in our constitutional system, I take the responsibility of appointing a Supreme Court Judge very seriously. However, the process by which judges are selected by the Commission and sent to governors for their consideration can certainly be improved.

“Judge Stith outlined some very good reforms including some I suggested last summer such as noticing the Commission meetings to the public and making public the applications of their selections.

“My budget includes funding to ensure that the judicial branch of government as well as the executive and legislative branches have a state-of-the-art e-mail retrieval system which would also apply to any Appellate Judicial Commission member who uses a state government e-mail address.

“I believe that government in secret is typically bad government and Judge Stith has taken some very good initial steps to strengthen the public’s trust in the judicial selection process.”

Source: Missouri Governor

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