The search for a new Indiana Supreme Court justice just might include a Daniels.
Not Gov. Mitch Daniels but his sister, Deborah. “For a minute, ignore the name and consider this résumé: partner at a prominent Indianapolis law firm and ‘former U.S. Attorney and U.S. Assistant Attorney General’ with ‘lengthy experience in criminal and civil investigations and public safety,’ ” writes Joel Schumm, a professor at Indiana University McKinney School of Law, in the Indianalawblog.
Indeed, Deborah Daniels has an impressive résumé and would very likely be considered qualified.
But after the Indiana Judicial Nomination Commission selects three finalists, Mitch Daniels will make the final choice. Could he appoint his sister?
“Concern is properly expressed when a person secures a job because of family connections,” Schumm writes, “but should a family connection preclude a person from a job?”
Perhaps in any other year, Daniels could appoint Deborah Daniels.
But this year, the governor might have a harder time justifying the appointment when he is pushing a bill to restrict nepotism.
On Monday, retiring Chief Justice Randall Shepard outlined the timetable for selecting the new justice. Applications are due Jan. 27; initial public interviews will be Feb. 8-10; follow-up interviews will be Feb. 22-23. Daniels is expected to make the appointment soon after March 4.
Sentence reform
One of Deborah Daniels’ more recent duties has been as a consultant to the Indiana Judicial Center, analyzing data as part of efforts to reform the criminal code.
Advocates want to identify alternate ways to sentence lower-level criminals, with an emphasis on keeping offenders in their home counties.
Gov. Daniels has supported the efforts – but he did not include sentence reform in his legislative agenda for 2012, indicating that opposition from prosecutors has blocked reform.
Democratic chairman
Last weekend’s Democratic State Central committee meeting was stranger than most: State party Chairman Dan Parker announced he was rescinding his resignation, submitted five days earlier.
Parker and other Democrats said party leaders asked their chairman of seven years to stay on. But the meeting didn’t exactly show a consensus. As chairman, Parker ran the meeting and simply said his resignation was moot. That decision of the chair was challenged, and Parker prevailed on a narrow vote of 15 to 13 1/2 . (Some members have half votes.)
New amendment?
With the beginning of the Indiana General Assembly just a couple of weeks away, lawmakers are filing proposed legislation. One of the more controversial is a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit courts from mandating counties to spend money for the courts. The practice isn’t used often but enough to anger some local officials.
The last mandate in Allen County came in 2001, when the nine Superior Court judges ordered the county to build a new juvenile detention center.
