Idaho Examiner: Statesman Profiles Idaho Supreme Court Race; Voters Have Clear Choice "My Idaho...My Planet Rocks!"

Based on their replies to the Gem State Voter Guide, voters will have a clear choice here between a candidate who believes strongly in originalism (Horton) and a candidate who is more open to legislating from the bench (Bradbury).

Horton circled “10” on a sliding scale, with “1” being a “living document” approach to the state constitution, and “10” being a “strict constructionist” view. Bradbury put himself in the dead center of this scale, somewhere between a “5” and a “6.”

When asked whether a judge’s role should be limited to interpreting and applying the law, Horton indicated the strongest possible agreement with a “1”, while Bradbury gave himself a “2” on a “1-5” scale, indicating he would be willing to reserve to himself some liberty to tinker with the law on occasion.

Horton told the Statesman, “When I interpret or apply constitutional provisions, I decide their meaning without injecting my personal view of what constitutes good public policy.”

Horton’s favorite justice is Antonin Scalia, the prince of originalism on the Court, who often offers biting criticism of his colleagues’ willingness to bend the Constitution to suit current cultural trends. Bradbury, on the other hand, identified Sandra Day O’Connor as his favorite, a justice who was often the swing vote between the conservative and liberal wings of the Court, sometimes siding with the originalist wing and other times with the “living document” crowd.

This election, by the way, shows the importance of choosing of Supreme Court Justices by direct election as the state constitution specifies.

For background, I sat through most of the interviews the Idaho Judicial Council conducted last summer with the candidates for seats that had been vacated by judges who retired early. (One retiring justice flatly admitted she was retiring early so her replacement could be chosen by the clubby 7-member Idaho Judicial Council rather than by the voters, because in her opinion, ordinary citizens like you and me just “don’t know how” to pick good judges.)

Despite sitting through Judge Horton’s interview, I had no better idea about his judicial philosophy after his interview was over than I did before it started. The Idaho Judicial Council appeared to be supremely uninterested in whether he would bring an originalist view to his role on the bench or a “living document” approach.

It wasn’t until these two candidates returned a public interest questionnaire from the IVA in connection with the upcoming election that any Idahoans were given a peek into the way they view the constitution and the law.

Given the dangerous and destructive trend toward judicial activism at all levels of the judiciary, and with only five seats on the Idaho Supreme Court bench, it is imperative that pro-family voters who believe in the rule of law inform themselves about this race and go to the polls on May 27.

Please review the profiles of these two judicial candidates on the Gem State Voter Guide at the link below, and forward this Daily Update to friends and family members so they can do the same.