German will advocate for judiciary as president of KCMBA

Kansas City Business Journal-January 26, 2007

Charles German takes the reins of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association at a particularly challenging time for the judiciary.

German, a shareholder of Kansas City-based Rouse Hendricks German May PC and the 2007 president of the KCMBA, said that during his leadership, the 5,000-member association will continue to be an active advocate for the judiciary at the federal level and on both sides of the state line.

German said the KCMBA and its immediate past president, Pat McLarney of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP, were active in placing a constitutional amendment on the November election ballot in Missouri intended to reinvigorate the then-moribund Citizens Commission on Compensation of Public Office, making it more difficult for the General Assembly to veto pay raises it recommends.

Voters approved the measure.

"Now, the citizens commission's recommendations go into effect unless vetoed by two-thirds of both the Missouri House and Senate," German said. The deadline for a veto is Feb. 1.

German said McLarney and other KCMBA members have been meeting with Missouri lawmakers to head off any attempt to veto the citizen group's recommendations, which included increased compensation for Missouri judges.

"Some legislators do have an interest in seeing the initiative vetoed, and we'll continue to oppose them," German said. "The courts have been far too long without raises in Missouri."

The Missouri Bar Association also has taken a leading role in heading off a veto attempt.

"It's our position that if we want to continue to get the most qualified people seeking positions on the bench, we have to provide fair and adequate compensation," said Charlie Harris of Berkowitz Oliver Williams Shaw & Eisenbrandt LLP, who is president-elect of the Missouri Bar Association. "It's shameful how long it's been since judges have gotten any increased compensation."

The KCMBA also has taken a keen interest in legislative initiatives in Kansas. Opponents of a Kansas Supreme Court decision that required the Legislature to spend more on schools are pondering legislative efforts to require judges, including Supreme Court judges, to stand for election.

"This is one example of legislators attempting to retaliate against courts for actions taken by those courts," German said. "We want the judiciary to continue to operate independently without fear of retaliation. The effort to require judges to stand for election and raise funds and give speeches on the campaign trail is almost an attempt to curtail the court's jurisdiction. That's absolutely wrong, and it undermines the rule of law."

There is ample evidence, German said, that the court system is working, thus rendering "knee-jerk, radical" efforts to rein in the authority of courts unnecessary.

For example, death penalty supporters were deeply critical after the Kansas Supreme Court suspended capital punishment in the state, when it ruled that instructions given to capital jurors were constitutionally flawed.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Kansas high court's ruling on appeal, "that was a wonderful example of the court system doing what it's supposed to do," German said.

He said the KCMBA also would oppose efforts at the federal level to rein in the authority of the judiciary.

"There is an effort under way to create a Federal Inspector General's office to investigate the decision-making process of the courts. We perceive that as a challenge to the independence of the judiciary, and we're against it," he said.

Public advocacy is only one part of the KCMBA's mission.

The organization will continue to offer programs to the membership and to the public. German said he intended, with the assistance of the board of directors and the membership, to systematically evaluate existing programs to make sure they're still "relevant and cutting-edge."

"And I'll be open to any ideas for new programs that members bring to my attention, and I might submit a few ideas myself," German said.

Phil LaCerte | LaCerte is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area.