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Court urged to form judicial districtsBy Alice Anne ConnerJovrnol T?me* StaffWisconsin's Supreme Court h is been asked to take judicial reorganization into its ownhands and nut wait for thelegislature to do U.A report filed today by aspecial study committee of theAdministrative Committee of Courts recommends a sweeping series of recommendations including creating * judicial administrative district'’ and a chief mdge tor each districtHacme and Kenosha counties would be in one judicial district The chief uidgc would be elected by the other judges m eaeh district and his name would be submitted to the supremecourt foi approvalSpeculation here this morning w a* that Judge Howard Dull olt; hei would likely beelected and named lt;hi»‘t judge olthe ptoposcd Judicials district.p n th bet iuse ol his seniority onthe bench. ,££!£££4 There i- one other judge inKenosha with more seniority, acourthouse officials said thismorning but lie's been ill and Idoubt he would Is- consideredAmong Hie duties ol the chief judge would be distribution ofwork load among the district’sjudgesCurrently, if there is a pileup of caseloads in a particularcourt, the Clerk of Court mustwrite to Madison and ask forhelp from the AdministrativeDirector s ot I ice ‘The* entire proposal ot thecommittee.” according to IH*anRobert F Boden, of theMarquette University l aw School, is based upon a principle ot constitutional law* that the grant ot judicial powers to the courts in the state constitution carries with it the powet toorganize and administer the judicial system as an independent and coordinate branch ofgovernment.”4 This ha been said before, bui never done on the scale which the committee re* ommends Action b\ the Supreme Court on the proposal would In* a fust in American legal history Other propos.ild tor whichlegi'lation or constitutionalamendments will lie sought, arcthe citation ot an intermediate court ol ap|H‘.ih. a single leveltri il court system, additionaljudgeships and a general unification ol the svstem b\ making allcourt iKTstinnel state employesBoden said the purpose ot the recommendations is to help thecourt become more efficient byorganizing it into a truly unifiedbranch ot government'It the high court accepts the study committee's recommendation and derides it has thejurisdiction to implement the plan. Boden said, “it will be anunprecedented and pioneeringexercise of the court’s ownpower to regulate the administration of the judicial branch ”I nder the plan, the state would be divides! into 14 judicial administrative districts, consisting in all cases exceptMilwaukee. Waukesha and Dane counties, of at least two ot the ousting judicial circuits, andwith the named counties eachbeing a separate judicial distric t.Kach district, besides a chiefjudge, would have a deputy chief judge and in some* populous districts. division pnMding judgesfor courts subdivided into specialty area-Each distri* t would have a district court administrate! responsible to the clucf judge ot the districtWalworth County would bepart of a district along withGreen and Roc k countiesEich chief judge would 'ervefor two years, and lt;*uld succeed■Hf'himself tor one termThe administrative committee for the courts is made up of the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the chairman of the hoardot circuit judges and two additional circuit Judges, the chairman of the board of county judges and two additional countyjudgesThe plan. Boden said is based 1upon the Citizens Study Com- *mittee on Judicial Organization, which made a report in January ;ot 1073“But that plan required action by the legislature.” Boden satd I“ Xnd no action was takc*n by thelegislature* in 1971,” !The study committee concluded that without effectiveadministrative leadership and management, the courts will be* unable* to cope with thepressures of an ever-increasingeasel* KidCl)ALT tDiSNE^'S SANTA’SILL BROADCAST AhBULLETIN ACROSSAND PO«fe61S.TWE MOUNTAINSand the seas
Newspaper Details
Racine Journal Times
Racine, Wisconsin, US
Thu, Dec 05, 1974
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Madeline K.
NA, 06 Apr 2023
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