The Idaho Supreme Court is the
state supreme court
In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...
of
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
and is composed of the
chief justice and four associate
justices
''Justice'' (abbreviation: ame ''J.'' and other variations) is an honorific style and title traditionally used to describe a jurist who is currently serving or has served on a supreme court or some equal position. In some countries, a justice ma ...
.
The decisions of the Idaho Supreme Court are binding on all other Idaho
state courts. The only court that may reverse or modify its decisions is the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
.
The court moved into its present building in 1970; it was previously housed in the nearby
state capitol building.
Justices
Justices are elected in non-partisan statewide elections and serve staggered six-year terms. Elections are held in the state primary, now in May, with
run-off elections in November. The Chief Justice is selected by an election among the five justices and term length for that office is four years.
Prior to 1983, the position went to the justice with the least amount of time remaining in his term.
The court originally had three justices; it was expanded to five in 1921.
Current justices
Women on the Supreme Court
The first female justice on the Idaho Supreme Court was
Linda Copple Trout, appointed in 1992 by Governor
Cecil Andrus and elected in 1996 and 2002. She remains as the state's only female chief justice (1997–2004). The second female justice was
Cathy Silak, appointed by Andrus in 1993 and elected in 1994. She lost her reelection bid in 2000 to
Dan Eismann and became the first incumbent justice from the court to be defeated since 1944.
After Trout's retirement in 2007, no women were on the court until the election of
Robyn Brody in 2016 to a vacant seat, the first by a female; she is the only justice on the current court not first appointed.
Colleen Zahn joined the court in 2021, appointed by Governor
Brad Little
Bradley Jay Little (born February 15, 1954) is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of Idaho since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Idaho ...
; Brody and Zahn ran unopposed in 2022. With Little's appointment of
Cynthia Meyer in 2023, the court currently has a female majority.
List of chief justices
*
Election by peers began in 1983.[
]
Video coverage
The Idaho Supreme Court first permitted live video and audio coverage from its chambers in late 1978.
See also
* Courts of Idaho
References
External links
Idaho State Judiciary
Idaho Architecture Project.org
- Idaho Supreme Court building
American Courthouses
– Idaho Supreme Court building
{{authority control
State supreme courts of the United States
Idaho state courts
1863 establishments in Idaho Territory
Courts and tribunals established in 1863