Voters consider changes to the judiciary in Oregon, South Dakota

On the ballot in Oregon this Election Day is Measure 40, which would require that appellate judges be elected from geographic districts.  While Measure 40 would make significant changes to Oregon's judiciary, it pales in comparison to a measure on the ballot in South Dakota.  There, a constitutional amendment called the Judicial Accountability Initiative Law -- or JAIL -- would create a system to punish judges for unpopular decisions.  The proposed South Dakota law would create a special grand jury with the power to remove judges from the bench and to cut their retirement benefits.  The measure would strip judges of judicial immunity, making them vulnerable to civil lawsuits and criminal charges based on their decisions.   

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has charged that the goal of the South Dakota measure is "judicial intimidation," and last week at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference she warned against threats to judicial independence throughout the country.

Meanwhile, the California Bar Journal reports that Ron Branson, the moving force behind the JAIL initiative, lives in California, and hopes to get a similar measure on the ballot there and elsewhere in future elections.