Chief justice delivers state-of-the judiciary address

Jun 26th, 2009 by Mark Cohen

Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson just delivered his annual State of the Judiciary address at the close of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s annual meeting in Duluth.

The chief started with a quip that ”time flies when you are having fun” in a year when your most important job is “determining whether lizard people can vote.” (The chief was one of two justices to serve on the state Canvassing Board presiding over the recount of the ballots from the U.S. Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken.)

The chief said the best way to describe the state of the judiciary is that it is “in a state of flux.”

At the end of a very difficult legislative session this year, the judiciary came out “not so bad,” Magnuson said, making the distinction that he was not saying say the judiciary made out well. (The judiciary — underfunded going into the session — sustained a very modest budget cut after an intensive lobbying effort to head off steeper cuts.)

The chief said the judiciary hopes to implement e-civil filings by 2012, utilizing a similar system to the one used by federal courts. Future plans also include taking a look at the state’s 10 judicial districts to determine if redistricting could improve efficiency. The judiciary also plans to hold a forum with family law practitioners this fall to brainstorm on ways family-law cases can be handled more efficiently.

On the topic of judicial-election reform, Magnuson referred to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Caperton v. Massey as a reminder that “the way we select judges is fraught with peril. … Caperton was a wakeup call to many.” He exorted bar members to join the reform effort.

In closing, the chief said that, despite all the challenges, the state of the judiciary remains “good.”