The Supreme Court Building in Jefferson City is pictured on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
Post-Dispatch photo
Missouri State Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin speaks while on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, in the Capitol.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
JEFFERSON CITY — The incoming leader of the Missouri Senate wants to ditch the state’s longstanding selection plan for members of the Supreme Court and require judges to run for election.
Incoming Senate President Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, on Wednesday tied the effort to the court’s 4-3 decision in September to keep the abortion-rights Amendment 3 on the November ballot. She said the ruling was one of several that indicate “we need judges who more closely align with the citizens.”
“If we had a court which more closely represented the people of Missouri you would expect more conservative decisions,” she said in a text message.
The state’s current system, known as the Missouri Plan, has long been a target of some Republicans, but O’Laughlin’s effort represents the first substantial push in years to change it. She likely faces fierce resistance from the legal community, which largely supports the current system.
Under the Missouri Plan, approved by voters in 1940 to curb the influence of politics in the judiciary, the governor appoints members of the Supreme Court. But the chief executive may only choose judges from a list of three finalists provided by a commission.
Under O’Laughlin’s plan, the chief justice of the Supreme Court would be elected by a statewide vote.
A plan summary says if the Legislature provides for three appellate districts matching boundaries in the amendment, two judges would be elected from each district.
The candidates would officially run on a nonpartisan basis but could still declare themselves supporters of a political party. Judges would serve six-year terms.
Voters would have the final say on O’Laughlin’s proposed constitutional amendment. If both legislative chambers approve of O’Laughlin’s resolution, the measure could be on the ballot in 2026.
A political action committee supportive of the current nonpartisan court plan has been banking large donations this year.
Law firms and individual attorneys have made 19 donations over $5,000 this year totaling $447,500 to Citizens for Missouri Courts. That committee could play a heavy role in defending the court plan if any proposal made it to the ballot.
Ed Dowd, a Clayton attorney and chair of Citizens for Missouri Courts, defended the nonpartisan court plan in an interview earlier this year.
“It’s been adopted by, I believe, over 30 other states in an effort to get fair, impartial and independent judges,” Dowd told the Post-Dispatch. “And I think since it passed in 1940 (in Missouri), it has done exactly that.”
Incoming House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, noted that voters shot down the last attempt to change the nonpartisan court plan, a measure Republicans placed on the ballot in 2012.
“The last time Republican lawmakers put a constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot to mess with our judicial selection process, Missouri voters absolutely destroyed it with a whopping 76 percent against,” Aune said in a text message. “The Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan isn’t going anywhere.”
Currently, the seven-member Appellate Judicial Commission interviews Supreme Court applicants and provides a list of three finalists for the governor to choose from.
The commission is made up of three gubernatorial appointees, three members selected by the Missouri Bar, and the chief justice of the Supreme Court, currently Mary R. Russell, appointed by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden in 2004.
O’Laughlin’s proposal, she said, “empowers Missouri voters by giving them a direct say in electing judges, ensuring our judiciary serves the people, not the political or legal elite.”
O’Laughlin’s effort follows years of rulings at odds with legislative Republicans.
For example, the court ruled the Legislature couldn’t defund Planned Parenthood through the budget and that the state had to implement a voter-approved Medicaid expansion. Last year, it affirmed the Department of Conservation’s independence from lawmakers in spending decisions.
This year, two Republican legislators had sued to kick Amendment 3 off the ballot, arguing proponents improperly excluded information on statutes that would be repealed by the abortion-rights amendment.
The four-member majority that torpedoed the lawsuit included the court’s two remaining Democratic appointees and two appointed by Republicans.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, O’Laughlin said Missourians “deserve judges who protect their liberties and conservative values — not ones selected through an insider-driven process.”
The legislation is Senate Joint Resolution 3.
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Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin addresses reporters Thursday after taking the helm of the GOP caucus. Video by Jack Suntrup/Post-Dispatch
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