To the People of Wyoming:
We are past presidents of the Wyoming State Bar, writing to support an independent judiciary, the rule of law and our constitutional system.
It is reasonable to disagree with court decisions — half the people leaving a courtroom generally do. Constructive, respectful debate is a necessary, if not vital, part of democracy. But personal attacks on judges are inappropriate and dangerous. Judges must be free from improper influence or political pressure so they can fairly apply the law based on the facts and the Constitution. This independence protects everyone’s rights and public confidence in our courts.
The Wyoming Constitution separates powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with distinct roles. The judiciary’s role is to interpret and apply the law, and respecting that role — whether or not we like a result — is vital to stable government.
As lawyers, we hold a special trust. As officers of the court, Wyoming lawyers have a professional obligation to support the fair and impartial administration of justice. Our responsibility extends beyond our clients to the integrity of the legal system itself. As past presidents of the Wyoming State Bar, we are committed to promoting public understanding of the rule of law, fostering respect for judicial processes and supporting the institutional independence necessary for courts to fulfill their constitutional duties. We will continue to engage the public in civil, fact-based dialogue and to defend the judiciary when it is unfairly maligned.
Judicial independence does not shield judges from accountability; accountability must come through the Constitution’s established processes, including the voters’ critical role in the retention vote of judges. Intimidation, personal attacks, attempts to change our merit selection system and efforts to undermine the courts do not create accountability; they erode confidence in justice and the rule of law.
An independent judiciary safeguards the rights of all Wyoming citizens and strengthens trust in our legal system. We will continue to support these principles in service to the people of Wyoming.
Sincerely,
Past Presidents of the Wyoming State Bar
Richard M. Davis, 1989-1990
L. Galen West, 1993-1994
Kermit Brown, 1994-1995
H.M “Hoke” MacMillan, 1996-1997
Paul Hickey, 1997-1998
Timothy Day, 2001-2002
Richard Honaker, 2002-2003
Thomas E. Lubnau II, 2003-2004
Mark Harris, 2004-2005
Gay Woodhouse, 2007-2008
William Hiser, 2009-2010
Brian Hultman, 2010-2011
Eric Jones, 2011-2012
Patrick Korell, 2013-2014
Bradley Bonner, 2014-2015
Devon O’Connell, 2015-2016
John Masterson, 2016-2017
Kelly Neville, 2019-2020
Billie Addleman, 2020-2021
Kenneth Barbe, 2021-2022
Christopher Hawks, 2022-2023
Anna Reeves Olson, 2023-2024
This article is spot on. Often our judicial branch is the only bulwark against the usurpation of power by the other co-equal branches. Without a strong, indepent judicial branch our cherished democracy is in peril. Critizism of this branch is warranted but personal attacks against its’ member is an attack on the fabric of our way of government. Thank you BAR for defending this independent branch of government.
“‘.Judges must be free from improper influence or political pressure””
Are you kidding?
Judges in 2026 America going back decades are merely robe wearing politicians, as corrupt as the other 2 branches of Government.
Get a grip Chad. These “corrupt” judges as you say are all that’s holding this country together right now under the sustained attack from what is truly corrupt, the Trump administration. If you feel the judiciary is so tainted you might want to provide some concrete examples before just firing off another one of your negative diatribes.
Oh Steve, the continual echo chamber of “my side is impartial and good, the other side is biased and bad, is so tiresome.
Modern American Judges are exactly what I stated. Robe wearing politicians, that consistently insert their political biases into nearly every decision. Why in the world do you think there is ALWAYS the appearance of a fight at every single SCOTUS nomination???
Courts that tell us Corporations are people, Eminent domain can be used to raise a tax base (seize private land for building a Walmart), Forcing mandates/removing rights because it’s a form of taxation, Presidential immunity, etc. etc etc.
Most recently…. SCOTUS ruled in a 9-0 decision on January 14, 2026, i Case v. Montana that police may enter a home without a warrant if they have an “objectively reasonable basis” to believe an occupant is seriously injured or threatened, applying the “emergency aid” exception to the Fourth Amendment.
The Courts consistently strip protections of the citizens and strength powers of the Govt.
The decisions of the Courts are called OPINIONS for a reason. Not a negative diatribe, just a fact.
What’s tiresome Chad is your never ending stream of negativity on WyoFile no matter what the subject matter is. I don’t recall ever saying “my side is impartial and good, the other side is biased and bad” so I don’t know where you’re dredging up that crap. The ONLY thing that you’ve said that I will agree with is that SCOTUS is highly political currently (while it shouldn’t be), and have made some very questionable decisions favoring this administration.
I’ve found that it is impossible to have a dialog with you so from this point forward I won’t be engaging with your nonsense. Also, you’ve attacked the character of the people who signed this opinion in your first comment. Since you’re so “factual” lets hear some facts that you based that comment on. If you can’t, I’d suggest keeping your opinions to something you actually know something about.
Nah the politicians, especially the one issue womb managers, seek out corrupt judicial candidates. For example, the avowed swamp drainer, picked two corrupt SCOTUS members, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, that went to the same DC Catholic High School. Trying to find justices that would overturn ROE is what created the corruption that you see in the US SCOTUS, but it cannot be found on the Wyoming SCOTUS. Of course there are plenty of religious people that will toss out a plain reading of our Constitution for the pretzel logic of their Abrahamic faith as Kari Jo Grey’s recent dissent with respect to abortion proves.
If you want to see how voting for a state SCOTUS corrupts, look to Ohio, where one of the “elected” Justices is the son of the Governor Mike DeWine.
FYI – prior to the ill conceived 17th Amendment – the Governor used to select the US Senate candidates and the New York capitalists did not like that so they convinced the country to wreck our Republic by making these positions democratically elected. The wealthy knew it was cheaper to get the rubes to vote for the same bum time after time. See Wyoming’s Senators donors for confirmation of this fact.
Agree with you on the 17th Amendment. It was a package deal along with the 16th Amend. and the Federal Reserve Act that ensured Woodrow Wilson will always be the worst President in American History.
He essentially handed control of this nation over to The Banks and is the reason we are in the position we are in today as well regarding inflation, wars, debt, etc.
Yes, corrupt judges can be found on the bench. As the most high-profile example, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted lavish gifts from billionaire, Harlan Crow, and also tried to keep the gifts secret. When the rules are broken, there must be accountability. The mechanism for accountability for a Supreme Court Justice is that either the Court itself needs to hold its members accountable, or Congress needs to hold impeachment hearings. When the co-equal branches of government fail to enforce a high level of integrity on the bench, regardless of politics, the citizens lose faith in these institutions.
In the State of Wyoming, I have not seen allegations of corruption on the bench. As far as I am aware, the Wyoming judiciary maintains its respectability.
One of the things I hate most about the WY “Freedom” Caucus (so many things to hate from this group) is their attempt to politicize everything, similar to what is happening in D.C. Rather than make sure the laws they write pass legal muster, they accuse judges of being political when they interpret the law correctly. Rather than self-reflect on their poor attempts at legislating, they threaten to defund court security, try to whip up resentment in the electorate, threaten to change the make-up of the bench, and make a lot of unsubstantiated and inflammatory accusations.
Meanwhile, the FC is funded and controlled by out-of-state dark money, and its members don’t have the good sense to avoid the appearance of taking bribes on the House Floor. The WY FC are trying as hard as they can to make our state as dysfunctional as D.C.
Politicizing the WY judiciary will destroy our faith in the institution. I don’t agree with every court decision made in this state, but our judges need us to protect them from unfair criticism from elected officials. We have a duty to vote political hacks out of office.