Is Kentucky going down the
dangerous path of attacking judges
By Scott White
Wooodford Sun Staff
“It’s got to stop,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts said at a Q&A forum at Rice University in Houston earlier this week, acknowledging that attacks on judges are, as he said, “dangerous.”
“It is important that (court and judge’s) decisions are subjected to scrutiny, and they are,” he said. “The problem sometimes is that criticism can move from a focus on legal analysis.”
Roberts’ comments were widely seen as a response to the growing trend of elected officials and commentators, at times disturbingly, accusing judges of personal impropriety or worse for decisions with which they do not agree.
This is not new at the federal level. Last March, Roberts issued a pointed statement rejecting President Donald Trump and others’ call for a federal judge in Washington to be impeached because they did not like the rulings.
This is now being mirrored in Kentucky and involves, for now, two judges. Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Pamela Goodwine, who has represented Woodford County for several years both on our highest court and on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Goodwine has been a judge since 1999, when she became Fayette County’s first Black woman judge. The other judge is Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman, who has been on the bench since 2008.
Though judges are elected officials, the elections are non-partisan, like the city elections in Versailles and Midway. Even so, they campaign and are often the products of vigorous, contested elections in which the voters decide who is to represent them on the bench.
Both of these judges are now going through impeachment proceedings in the Kentucky General Assembly, where the House Special Impeachment Committee will soon decide whether to recommend to the full House whether to vote to impeach these two judges, and, if so, they will then be tried by the Senate. If the Senate finds them guilty of “any misdemeanors in office” as provided by the Kentucky Constitution, then they will be forced from office. The committee is comprised of 11 members, seven Republicans, including the chair and vice-chair, and four Democrats. Of the 11, four are lawyers.
The two proceedings were begun by citizens filing petitions with the House clerk. For Goodwine, it was a Louisville lawyer, and for Goodman, it was a former Republican state legislator from Fayette County.
As Roberts said in the context of the Washington D.C. federal judge, these impeachment proceedings are dangerous. The committee chair, Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, should end them.
They are dangerous for a variety of reasons based on the Kentucky Constitution; let me mention two.
In our democracy, we are governed by three branches – legislative, executive, and judicial. The genius of our framers is that each is separate and cannot intrude on the powers of the others. Sure, like many constitutional issues, there are gray areas. And, it is true that judges, like governors and presidents, can be impeached.
The problem here is that what is being complained about is not any alleged criminal conduct, or bad intent or other illegal activity. Rather, the petitioners don’t like the results of particular cases, and so they make the absurd argument that those decisions are the equivalent of “misdemeanors in office.” But, in both civil and criminal cases, if someone doesn’t like the result of a case, they can appeal the decision. Then, the higher court decides if the judge got it wrong.
In the cases cited in Goodman, four are still on appeal. In the Goodwine matter, the case involves a re-argument and a new decision by the Supreme Court after she went on the bench. All of those were preceded by the correct rules and procedures . . . there are no accusations of secret meetings, bribery or the judge making a decision on anything beyond the facts and the law of each case.
The other point is, in some ways, more fundamental –is the right of the citizens of Kentucky to elect the judges they want to represent them. If either Goodman or Goodwine is removed by the General Assembly, then it is ignoring the will of the voters just because the people who filed the petitions did not like the result of the cases. Think of it this way – if removal happens, and frankly, even if the petitions proceed to a vote by the committee instead of being dismissed, then any officeholder could be impeached for just about anything without some requirement of criminal or quasi-criminal conduct.
As Roberts says, this is dangerous and inherently anti-democratic.
Here is another example of why this is such a horrible idea and why Woodford County voters are at risk of having their will subverted. For 38 years, I practiced civil and criminal law in Kentucky, and had several cases with both Judges Goodwine and Goodman. I lost a jury trial and my share of decisions before Goodwine, and also lost many decisions in Goodman’s court. I saw both regularly interact with lawyers, witnesses, parties – Goodman had a reputation for being tough and, at times, brusque. Goodwine was known for a pleasant demeanor, but courageous in many of her decisions.
There were times I walked out angry or annoyed if it was not my day, as all lawyers do. But I could always appeal something that went against my client. I had a remedy. The same as the folks involved in all of the cases now under scrutiny by the impeachment committee.
Robert Abell, considered one of the best criminal and employment lawyers in Kentucky, said it best when he told me, “(The impeachment of Judge Goodman is) a shameful effort to intimidate the judiciary, erode and degrade our citizens’ freedoms and liberties while smearing a superb judge in the process.” I believe the same can be said about Judge Goodwine.
Here in Kentucky, our legislature needs to reject the demonetization of judges, put a stop to playing politics with judges, and if corrections need to be made in a particular case, let the process for that be used.