NOW OR NEVER FOR ANTI-BOZO LEGISLATION

With two state judges suspended and a third captured on tape scooping
up five grand in cash from a bail bondsman, the stars could hardly be
better aligned for state Senate President John Hainkel, R-New Orleans,
arch proponent of what its supporters call "merit selection."

That term, which means nothing more than appointing judges rather than
electing them, is somewhat loaded. It is apparently taken for granted
that merit is not a factor in judicial elections.

Hainkel, indeed, declared a few months ago that there are now more
bozos on the bench than at any time in the more than 40 years he has
been practicing law.

He plans to try yet again next year with a bill that would leave
judicial appointments to committees of the great and the good. Gov.
Foster promises his support.

Hainkel can only have been confirmed in his dim view of Louisiana
judges when the state Supreme Court suspended district judges Sharon
Hunter and Ronald Bodenheimer.

Hunter gets a chance to plead her case before the Supreme Court today,
but has a lot of explaining to do if she is to avoid being kicked off
the bench for what might be termed aggravated incompetence.

Hunter, according to the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, reduced her
court to such a shambles that she became a "danger to the public." The
court of appeal, for instance, was obliged to overturn a bunch of
convictions, including 5 for murder, because Hunter contrived to lose
trial transcripts. Staff came and went at a clip reminiscent of Grand
Central Station.

At least Hunter does not face the prospect of prison. Bodenheimer,
however, may be looking at a long stretch, being under house arrest
accused of drug offenses and an attempted frame-up.

Bodenheimer, though the feds have him on tape making various sinister
remarks, has boldly turned down a plea bargain that would have given
him 30 months. He is even less likely than Hunter to return to the
bench.

The feds also taped Bodenheimer's colleague in Jefferson parish, judge
Alan Green, not only accepting the bail bondsman's $5,000 but making
the extraordinary assertion that he thought it legal to accept that
amount in cash as a campaign contribution.

If Green is really that ignorant of statutory limits, he might
consider doing a little research. They're bound to have a few law
books lying around right there in the Gretna courthouse.

One of the merits of Hainkel's plan is that there would be no pretext
for judges to accept large sums of money from parties affected by
their rulings. Right now, such parties are about the only source of
campaign money.

Even judges -- no doubt the majority -- who would not stoop to take
cash from a bondsman, find themselves beholden to lawyers and
businessmen with a stake in judicial decisions. Hardly anyone else,
save friends and relations of candidates, has any motive to contribute
to a judicial campaign.

Judges, meanwhile, are forever putting the bite on attorneys who
practice before them. Attorneys may resent it bitterly, but cough up
for fear they won't get an even break in court. The result is a
degraded judiciary and widespread cynicism.

Hainkel would have Louisiana join other states that give the governor
the power to appoint judges from nominations submitted by local and
appropriately diverse committees. The great unwashed would get a
look-in only at the end of a judicial term, when the incumbent would
stand alone on the ballot to be either retained or replaced by a fresh
appointee.

The theory of the Hainkel plan is that it would produce fewer bozos,
although some will no doubt slip through under any method. Appointing
judges does not, as is sometimes claimed, remove the politics; it just
leaves political decisions to fewer people.

Perhaps those decisions are likely to be more judicious, and it is
hard to imagine that the scope of Hunter's incompetence, for instance,
would escape a nominating committee.

Bodenheimer, on the other hand, after many years as a well-liked and
highly respected prosecutor, would have seemed a logical choice for
judge. Nobody seems to have foreseen the travails that led to his downfall.

He has helped bring the judiciary into such bad odor that, if Hainkel
can't get his bill passed this time, he never will, and the bozos will
dog him the rest of his career.