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Bar News - November 22, 2002 Amendment on Court Falls Short of Passage By: Dan Wise THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT giving the Legislature ultimate authority over court rules and administration was defeated when it failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority for passage. According to a final tally by the NH secretary of state’s office, Question 1 received 221,558 votes in favor (63 percent) and 129,579 "no" votes. The second question on the ballot, authorizing the convening of a constitutional convention, failed to achieve the simple majority it needed. "It is difficult to amend the Constitution, and that is the way it should be," said NHBA President Marty Van Oot, referring to the rejection of Question 1. "We are pleased with the outcome because we believe the proposal would not have improved the relationship between the branches of government." "With a new governor and a new Legislature, we see an opportunity for a fresh start for all branches of government to work on enhancing cooperation and communication in what will be challenging times. The Bar stands ready to assist in promoting better relations between the judicial, legislative and executive branches in the coming years," Van Oot added. Van Oot said she hopes that adequate funding for the courts, including continued support for the judicial branch’s automation initiative, takes precedence in discussions between the Legislature, the courts and the governor in the coming session. Regarding the amendment, Van Oot attributed the number of votes, in part, to the distribution in polling places of a voter’s guide, written by the legislative leadership and printed at public expense. The voter’s guide, 80,000 copies of which were distributed with the official ballots, was prominently posted or handed out by election officials inside many polling places. "The voter’s guide was misleading. It characterized the amendment as non-controversial and innocuous," Van Oot said. "We believe the amendment, if passed, would have had the tendency to alter the balance of power between the branches of government, threatening the independence and efficiency of our courts." In a campaign season overshadowed by hotly contested Senate and congressional races, the amendment received relatively little news coverage, although the major daily newspapers wrote editorials on the subject. Bar leaders, along with Superior Court Chief Justice Walter L. Murphy, spoke about the amendment with editorial page editors at several newspapers. Most of the state’s daily newspapers, including The (Nashua) Telegraph, Keene Sentinel, Concord Monitor, Valley News and Foster’s Daily Democrat, urged rejection of the amendment. The Union Leader vigorously promoted a "yes" vote and ran four editorials, including a front-page editorial on election day. A grass-roots group of lawyers, including Van Oot and NHBA President-Elect Russell Hilliard, helped to pay for advertisements that ran in the Union Leader, Foster’s Daily Democrat, and the Concord Monitor on the Sunday before the election, urging voters to reject the amendment. (See News Releases for opinion pieces written for and against the amendment.) Van Oot was hesitant to comment on whether momentum will still exist in the Legislature for continuing efforts to curb the authority of the judicial branch. She said she would prefer to focus on the positive efforts at collaboration to occur with the start of a new legislative session.
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