The Recall and the Political Responsibility of Judges

The movement for the recall of State officers is one which has became important only within the past three or four years. The first application of the recall as a modem institution in the United States appears to have been in Los Angeles in 19o3, where the institution was adopted in the amendment of the charter framed by that city. From Los Angeles the recall as applicable only to municipal officers spread to other California cities, and has now been rather widely adopted in other States. The first State constitutional amendment with respect to the recall, that of California in 1906, provided that municipal charters should control with respect to the tenure of office or dismissal from office of municipal officers or employees.

The first State-wide provision for a recall of public officers was that inserted into the constitution of Oregon by an amendment adopted on June I, 1908. A proposal in substantially the same terms af the Oregon provision was incorporated into the proposed constitution of Arizona, which was approved by a vote of the people of that territory on February 9, 1911, and a somewhat similar provision was adopted as a constitutional amendment by a vote of the people of California on October 1O, 1911.