The State Bar seeks public comment on recommendations from a task force of current and former Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE) commissioners to amend existing rules to streamline JNE procedures and conform to current practices. Length of comment period: 45 days.
Deadline: January 4, 2024, 11:59 p.m.
Comments should be submitted using the online Public Comment Form. The online form allows you to input your comments directly and can also be used to upload your comment letter and/or other attachments.
At the July 2023 meeting of the Board of Trustees, State Bar staff and the JNE leadership recommended the formation of a task force to conduct a comprehensive review of the State Bar Rules governing JNE and propose potential amendments to the Board at its November 2023 meeting to release for public comment.
The task force solicited feedback from current and former JNE commissioners, as well as JNE staff, about ways to improve the JNE Rules and make the process more efficient.
The package reflects several rule change proposals as a result of this work.
Most of the proposed amendments conform the rules to current JNE practices and are designed to provide transparency into the current JNE process.
The task force devoted substantial time to discussion of rule 7.52 and whether the requirement that candidate interviews be conducted in person should be maintained.
During the pandemic, the commission transitioned to remote candidate interviews, but a rule change would be required to make this transition permanent.
Some members of the task force emphasized the high quality of in-person interviews compared to virtual meetings, citing issues with virtual interviews such as potential audio and visual integrity problems due to poor reception. Other members emphasized the general social acceptance and ubiquity of remote proceedings, believing that virtual interviews offered similar experiences to an in-person interview, enhanced the overall JNE process, and offered cost savings for the State Bar’s budget.
Ultimately, the task force voted to recommend releasing both options for public comment, and the Board agreed with this recommendation:
Option 1: Keep the existing rule, which would uphold the commission’s longstanding tradition of conducting candidate interviews in person, which has been essential to the commission’s overall mission, given the importance of judicial selection, the impact on public protection, and the relatively few opportunities to evaluate a judicial candidate in person.
OR
Option 2:Proceed with remote proceedings as acceptable for trial court candidates, but designate in-person interviews of all candidates for Courts of Appeal or the Supreme Court.
Staff estimates the cost of resuming in-person candidate interviews to be approximately $135,000 annually. If the Board ultimately adopts “Option 1” presented in rule 7.52, and maintains the existing requirement that the candidate interviews be conducted in person, this amount would need to be added to JNE’s budget in 2024.
Board of Trustees
January 4, 2024, 11:59 p.m.