By Charity Joy
Since the vast majority of Idaho’s judges are appointed and uncontested at the ballot box, they do not seem to care how the public reacts to their rulings and lenient sentences.
Under the leadership of Stanley Mortensen, the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office has been issuing press releases following sentencing in criminal cases. The announcements from Jan. 22 and Jan. 29 caused public outcry against lenient judges who suspended the sentences of repeat DUI (Driving Under the Influence) offenders in favor of probation.
District Judge Ross Pittman placed Joseph Adam Wilder, 34, on probation following his conviction for Felony Eluding an Officer while he was on probation for multiple prior DUI convictions.
Senior District Judge Barbara Buchanan placed Richard Joseph Veltri, Jr., 47, on probation following his sixth DUI conviction. The scorching comments on social media included one woman stating, “So when he kills someone… that judge needs to be charged for the same crimes. The judge literally signed off on someone’s death.”
Multiple comments echoed this man’s sentiment, “Our judges get free passes far too often. This has to be published and made overwhelmingly known to the public. There are some good and some bad… their records need to be shared among the public, good and bad… We can fight to retain good ones, and weed out the ones who don’t care about rule of law or case law. This is getting crazy.”
Many members of the community called for both Pittman and Buchanan “to be fired” or “remembered at election time.”
Technically, all judges in Idaho are accountable at the ballot box, but in reality that is just smoke and mirrors.
Here’s the truth.
Idaho’s judiciary is the ruling class. Nearly all sitting judges in Idaho got their judgeship by appointment, and Senior Judges like Buchanan are allowed to rule over both civil and criminal matters with zero accountability at election time.
Senior Judges are retired justices who agree to work at a reduced rate while still maintaining their full retirement pay. Senior Judges do not hold an elected or appointed judicial seat, they fill in for sitting justices. Therefore, Senior Judges like Buchanan cannot be removed at an election.
District Judges are supposedly elected. However, the majority are appointed by the governor when a seat is vacated by a judge before their term ends. District Judge Ross Pittman was appointed by Governor Brad Little in April 2024. Pittman was previously appointed as a Magistrate Judge.
District Judge seats appear on election ballots in 4-year intervals. Keeping track of which seats are up for election is next to impossible since no judicial website provides a term of office for District Judges. Technically, qualified candidates (attorneys) can challenge a sitting District Judge during an election, however, the vast majority are unopposed and voters are given no choice.
All Magistrate Judges are appointed by District Magistrate Commissions. After appointment, Magistrate Judges are “retained” or “not retained” during elections. There are no alternative choices to replace a Magistrate Judge, citizens are only given the option to vote “yes” or “no” to retain the judge.
District Magistrate Commissions are a 15 member panel made up of county commissioners, governor appointments, administrative judge appointments, and Idaho State Bar appointments. Idaho has seven Judicial Districts. Membership on the Commissions cannot be found online and must be obtained by submitting a public records request.
The Idaho Court of Appeals and the Idaho Supreme Court are technically filled with elected officers. However, just like District Judges, the majority of justices on the higher courts are appointed by the governor during a vacancy and appear uncontested on ballots. Governor Little appointed the newest Idaho Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Meyer in November 2023. Terms of office for both courts can be found at https://sos.idaho.gov/elections-division/elected-officials/.
Don’t forget, the heavy handed rules mandated by the Idaho Supreme Court during the COVID-19 debacle effectively suspended due process for over two years and denied civil litigants, criminal defendants, and crime victims their Constitutionally protected rights. To date, the Idaho Judiciary has not been held to account for the outrageous actions taken under the guise of “COVID mitigation.”
These judges do not seem to care how upset people get over actions and lenient sentences. The Idaho Judiciary behaves like unelected bureaucrats because the system that allows for appointments and uncontested races protects them from any form of accountability.
Based on this reality, do you have any sympathy for Chief Justice G. Richard Bevan’s demand for a 30% increase to judicial pay? If Bevan gets his way, the ruling class will make $193,000 to $215,000 a year, plus benefits.
Originally published at the Kootenai Journal on February 2, 2025.
About Charity Joy
Entrepreneur, business owner, and 33-year resident of Kootenai County, currently holding dual roles as Editor-in-Chief and writer for the Kootenai Journal. Her focus is on community education with an emphasis on constitutional literacy and civic engagement. When it comes to politics, her views blend classic liberalism and constitutional restorationism.
