STATE OF THE JUDICIARY
Chief Justice Daniel T. Eismann
January 7, 2008
Governor Otter, Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Mr. President Pro Tem, my colleagues on the Supreme Court, Judges of the Court of Appeals, Constitutional Officers, distinguished members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and fellow citizens of Idaho.
It is an honor to appear before you to report on the state of the judiciary in our great state. This is my first opportunity to do so. I want to begin by acknowledging my immediate predecessors, retired Chief Justices Gerald F. Schroeder and Linda Copple Trout. During their careers they both made significant contributions to the judiciary and to our State. I next want to introduce the two new members of the Supreme Court.
Justice Warren Jones was appointed to the Court by Governor Otter in July. Justice Jones graduated from high school in Arco, earned his undergraduate degree from the College of Idaho and his law degree from the University of Chicago School of Law. After clerking two years for the Idaho Supreme Court, Justice Jones joined one of the pre-eminent Boise law firms and became that firm’s senior litigator. During the next 37 years, he tried 122 jury trials in 38 of Idaho’s 44 counties.
Justice Joel Horton was appointed to the Court by Governor Otter in September. He graduated from high school in Boise, earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Washington, and his law degree at the University of Idaho College of Law. Justice Horton practiced law in Lewiston, served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Twin Falls and Ada Counties, and as a deputy attorney general. In 1994 he was appointed as a magistrate judge in Ada County and in 1996 as a district judge for the Fourth Judicial District.
Although most of you know Justices Roger Burdick and Jim Jones, I will re-introduce them.
Justice Burdick also graduated from high school in Boise. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Colorado and his law degree at the University of Idaho College of Law. He practiced law in the Magic Valley, served as a public defender and as a deputy prosecuting attorney, and was elected the Jerome County Prosecuting Attorney. Justice Burdick served twelve years as a magistrate judge in Jerome County and ten years as a district judge for the Fifth Judicial District, during which time he was elected as the administrative district judge and presided over the Snake River Basin Adjudication. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2003 by Governor Kempthorne.
Justice Jim Jones graduated from Valley High School located between Eden and Hazelton. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon and his law degree from Northwestern School of Law in Chicago. He served our country as an artillery officer in Vietnam and the citizens of our state during two terms as Attorney General. Prior to being elected Attorney General he practiced law in Jerome, and afterward he practiced law in Boise. The people elected him to the Idaho Supreme Court in 2004.
As you can see, the members of the Court have varied backgrounds, an extensive range of experience, and are committed to excellence in our legal system.
I have been a judge for over twenty-one years, serving as a magistrate judge in Owyhee County, as a district judge and administrative district judge in the Fourth Judicial District, and now as a justice on the Supreme Court. The current state of the judiciary can best be understood by reviewing some of the changes that I have observed during the last 20 years.
Idaho’s population has grown almost 60%. A population growth typically causes an increase in court filings, and that has happened in Idaho. Case filings have increased over 40%, so that during 2007 almost one-half million cases were filed in Idaho’s state courts.
For most Idahoans, going to court means appearing before a magistrate judge. They preside over a wide variety of cases, including small claims cases and civil cases seeking $10,000 or less; infractions, misdemeanors, preliminary hearings, juvenile corrections cases, guardianships and conservatorships, divorces, and probates. They also preside over all cases involving children, such as child abuse and neglect, child support and custody, terminating parental rights and adoptions. During the last 20 years, we have seen average magistrate caseloads increase 17% because the number of cases filed in magistrate court has increased faster than the number of magistrate judges.
District judges preside over all felony cases and over civil cases where the amount sought exceeds $10,000. During the last 20 years, their average caseloads per judge have increased 57%. The largest increase has been in felony drug cases, which have increased almost 700%.
Idaho’s judges are carrying much heavier caseloads than they did twenty years ago. Even with heavier caseloads, they are disposing of cases in a timely manner, often being required to work evenings and weekends. The cases in our trial courts have median ages that are less than half of the time standards we have adopted.
Many of the judges also travel regularly in order to provide judicial resources to the rural counties of our state and to provide additional judicial resources in the more populous counties. Last year, those judges drove over one-half million miles.
We also have retired judges who work as senior judges on a per-diem basis at both the trial and appellate court levels. They are a valuable, short-term judicial resource.
In spite of the increased caseloads, Idaho’s judges have taken on additional responsibilities in order to deal more effectively with some of the most challenging problems facing our citizens. One of the most recent examples of this has been the drug and mental health courts, what we call our problem-solving courts. They include adult and juvenile drug courts, DUI courts, child protection courts, and mental health courts. Twenty years ago, those types of courts did not exist. Now we have 52 such courts in Idaho, with five more starting up.
To preside over these courts, judges must take specialized training, learn new skills, and devote additional hours to their jobs. With offenders returning to court regularly to receive rewards for doing well and consequences when struggling, the judges spend more time with each offender than the traditional manner of handling such cases. That investment in the lives of addicts and the mentally ill by trial judges is paying priceless dividends to our State.
The Ada County Drug Court is our State’s largest drug court, with 483 graduates. I had the opportunity to help create that court and presided over it for two years. The typical graduate had been using drugs for almost 17 years, with the overwhelming majority of them addicted to methamphetamine. When they entered drug court, on average they were using over $3600 in drugs per person per month. Since only 41% were employed, they were not buying drugs with their paychecks.
It takes the average graduate almost 17 months to complete the drug court program. While they were in drug court, the graduates stopped using drugs and obtained jobs. 97% were employed when they graduated. Those without full-time employment were enrolled in school full-time with the exception of two graduates: one was staying home with her newborn baby and the other was doing community service work because her mental illness precluded employment. On average, the graduates’ annual incomes increased almost $14,000 during the time they were in drug court.
We have seen homeless, unemployed addicts enter the drug court who later graduated drug free with jobs and homes. The graduates also have a significantly reduced recidivism rate.
Statistics cannot reflect, however, the impacts on the addicts’ lives. I have been to many drug court graduations, and the most common statement by the graduates is, “Drug court saved my life.” As they stopped using drugs, we have also seen familial relationships restored. Family members who have not spoken to each other for years began rebuilding their relationships. In addition, 50 women have given birth while in the Ada County Drug Court, and all of their babies were born drug free. Other drug courts have achieved similar positive results.
The success of Idaho’s drug and mental health courts and other innovations such as Family Court Services and Court Assistance Offices would not have been possible without the cooperation of all three branches of government. Idaho’s trial judges have demonstrated their commitment to expand these efforts. I thank you for your support of these vital services.
The increased caseloads over the last twenty years are not limited to our trial courts. During that period, the yearly appellate filings have increased about two-thirds, with no increase in appellate judges. The brunt of that increase has been borne by our Court of Appeals. Judges Karen Lansing, Darrel Perry, and Sergio Gutierrez have gone above and beyond the call of duty. They have implemented various measures to lessen the impact of the increasing caseload, but we have now reached the point where those measures cannot ensure the continued timely justice our citizens deserve.
Last February, the Supreme Court appointed a task force to make recommendations ranging from the future structure and operations of the Court of Appeals to staffing, technology, and facility needs. The task force was chaired by Dean Burnett from the University of Idaho College of Law, and it included the Hon. Denton Darrington, Chair of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee and the Hon. Jim Clark, Chair of the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee. I thank them for their wisdom and valuable insights.
Based upon the task force’s recommendations, we ask this legislature to add one more judge to the Court of Appeals as the next step in ensuring that it can continue to fulfill its critical role in the judiciary. Our proposal is to move the Court of Appeals into the Supreme Court building and to relocate the law library to a suitable location.
In spite of increasing caseloads, Idaho’s judges are fulfilling their Constitutional mandate to serve the citizens of our state and to address some of the most difficult social issues facing our State. We are very fortunate in Idaho to have an outstanding working relationship among the three branches of state government. On behalf of Idaho’s judges, I thank you for your support of the judiciary.