Thursday February 9, 2017- Judicial Retention interviews of Supreme Court Justices

CJ Paul Reiber:

3rd time up
No statement- offered to answer questions
Sen. Benning spoke to practice of assigning bailiffs to oral argument but the CJ said they changed the process. He asked about assigning judges if there is a recusal and the CJ explained how that's done administratively,
Sen. Flory asked about pro se; he deferred to Justice Robinson. Little civil jury work these days. Spoke about 1991 moratorium of civil jury trials due to budget pressures. Wants to energize civil docket.
Sen. Sirotkin asked if the judiciary should propose its own budget? -
Rep. Rachelson asked what is your role as CJ?
Sen. Nitka asked about probate judges; he doesn’t want to reopen that issue. Wants relaxed venue in CHINS.


Justice Eaton:

First time up for retention as a Justice; twice as superior judge .
Sen Flory asked about his sitting in trial court; it was a stark reminder of needs of the courts.
Sen Benning asked about some of the comments; some good, some negative.
Rep. Viens asked what are we doing right and wrong on opiates? Tech topic of treatment courts came up.
Rep. Troiano asked about expanding PD availability.
Sen. Nitka asked about the alimony reform discussion in Senate Judiciary. He declined to answer as they have an alimony case right now.


Justice Robinson:

On the court 5&1/2 years
Spoke to bar work in pro bono and Washington state licensed legal technician law.
Rep. Rachelson was impressed by comments that indicated that she is consistently well prepared.  The issue of limits of small claims courts was raised during a discussion about a "pro se" court. 
Rep. Viens- "great comments; you’re well respected". But he was concerned about constituent complaints that judgments are never paid from small claims actions.
Rep. Rachelson asked whether the justices should be getting more feedback?


Justice Skoglund:

20th year; she continues to love the job;  not so much the administration. Stays in contact with legislature talking about its role in updating the law.
Sen. Sirotkin was impressed by her letter. She likes going back to trial bench.  Some comments showed that she is engaging and makes people feel comfortable.
Sen. Nitka also remarked about the nice comments.