During the week-long Association of Oregon Counties Annual Conference at the Eugene Hilton on Wednesday, Oregon’s Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz traveled from Salem, Ore. to address influential leaders in Oregon’s political future and economic growth on the Oregon judicial system and the importance of a properly functioning free market.
Having grown up in Northeast Portland, DeMuniz and his brothers were raised by their single mom who worked three jobs to keep them afloat. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War before working at the Oregon Court of Appeals for 10 years. He was elected to the chief justice position, where he controls about $4 million per year and manages about 1,800 employees, in January 2006.
His message was simple: We need a strong judicial branch in Oregon in order for our free market to stay healthy. DeMuniz used Russia as an example of a government that has suffered the consequences of a weak judicial branch. Even though Russia recently surpassed Saudi Arabia in oil production and its exports total about $245 billion per year, he said, the corruption in its economy has been extremely detrimental. “International investors and the public don’t see the judicial branch as independent and strong,” DeMuniz said. “They have a very hard time going into Russia.”
Any successful free market has a strong judicial system that upholds personal and property rights, he said. He described how John Adams was the first person to write out a Constitution – for Massachusetts in 1780 – that established three separate branches of government. Our nation’s founders followed suit, drafting a national constitution in 1787.
“Judicial power is an awesome thing,” DeMuniz said. “It’s the cornerstone of our democracy.”
The Chief Justice then enthusiastically explained the best ways of ensuring this. DeMuniz said that the courts should manage our resources prudently, work in a timely fashion and, most importantly, protect the public’s right to an impartial protected court system.
One of DeMuniz’s many goals is to push education about the judicial system into all Oregon schools. First and foremost, all citizens – especially youth – need to be educated about the judicial branch and how it functions.
“One of our recent surveys asked Oregon citizens to name the three branches of government,” he said. “Fifty-five percent surveyed couldn’t name the three branches of government. Twenty-two percent proudly named them as Republican, Democrat and Independent.”
He also stressed the importance of building and maintaining aesthetically pleasing courthouses in every Oregon city. Having well designed courthouses such as the federal courthouse in downtown Portland or the recently constructed one in Eugene affects the public’s attitudes towards what the courts do and what will happen to them if they ever have to go to court. The buildings must also be secure and technologically up-to-date by way of an automated case management system. He plans to ask the Oregon Legislature for funding this year.
“We need a statewide commitment to security,” he said. “We have to know how to execute in a time of crisis.”