Indiana State Bar Association event delves into government distrust

Current and former state leaders looked into a concerning trend of distrust in the overall government system during a panel discussion Wednesday as part of the Indiana State Bar Association’s America 250 event at the State Fairgrounds.

“If you look at our democracy, we’ve all got to trust that our system is working,” Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Nancy Vaidik said. “When you look at the polls, we’re at historic lows when it comes to trust in all branches of government … What can we do about it?”

Vaidik led the discussion. Panelists also included Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush, former Indiana Senator and U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Joe Donnelly, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.

Holcomb said he believed some of the public’s distrust had been earned through lapses of judgment and ethical concerns.

“You have to acknowledge it,” he said. “That calls for better conduct … to instill trust back into the system, those guardrails.”

Rush believes restoring trust in the judicial system begins with asking why there’s distrust.

“You’ve got to ask ‘Why?’ We’re looking at the national level at surveys and forums, ‘What is it that you don’t trust?’ ‘What works?’” she said.

Rush also believes people need to see what the judicial system does. She cited the state Court of Appeals’ program “Appeals on Wheels” in which judges decide cases in front of public audiences, as an example.

“They’ll go anywhere, they’ll probably go to a rest area and do an oral argument or nursing homes,” Rush joked.

Bringing the judicial system to audiences is only half of the equation. The public has to be able to understand what’s going on, she noted.

“You (judges) have got to remove the legal language that they don’t understand,” Rush said. “You’ve got to make access available.

“These judges have to understand their community, what are the resources in their community? What do we do for criminal justice reform? … You’ve got to earn the trust. I tell every judge, ‘Every day, you’re that face of justice.”