The outcome of a supreme court race has led some to question the role of ethnicity
in judicial elections.
To the surprise of some, two years later you spoke publicly about your continued support
for judicial elections, and that speech was published as a law review article.
The problem of corporate money polluting
state judicial election campaigns has long been recognized as a fundamental problem for our democratic government.
In addition to the blog, the site includes a monthly featured discussion on topics that have
included judicial elections, medical malpractice liability, contingency fees, and federal gun lawsuit legislation.
The court recognized that the provision served the state's important interest in operating
judicial elections while avoiding corruption and the appearance thereof.
The bad judges elected make voters feel that they need ways to remove judges, which
promotes judicial elections, which promote bad judges.
Thus, public financing does not cap spending nor guarantee a level playing field
in judicial elections and is not a solution to issue - oriented campaigns.
Three candidates are somehow in the mild slugfest for county Surrogate Court judge — Democrat Sara McGinty, who won her party's primary, though not its endorsement at convention, and has a dubious distinction of being listed as «not qualified» by the Third Judicial Department
Independent Judicial Elections Qualification Commissions, though the Ulster County Bar Association lists her as «qualified.»
In a recent opinion dissenting from the denial of certiorari in an Alabama death penalty case, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned whether the pressures of
partisan judicial elections influence judges» decisions in cases involving hot - button issues like capital punishment.
This article is an analysis of the book In Defense of
Judicial Elections by Chris W. Bonneau and Melinda Gann Hall.
Concerns related to attacks on judicial candidates and attempts by business and political interests to
influence judicial elections are examined.
The Center believes that the growing influence of money
on judicial elections and pressure on candidates to make commitments about how they will rule if elected to the bench threaten public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.
The idea of ending these partisan primary elections was at one point in 2014 part of Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor's plan to change the state's
judicial election system, but was eventually dropped.
Nonpartisan thanks to a major reform effort in 1994 Nonpartisan
Judicial Elections Act (Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Circuit, Chancery, County)
A State may assure its people that judges will apply the law without fear or favor — and without having personally asked anyone for money... [A] State has compelling interests in
regulating judicial elections that extend beyond its interests in regulating political elections, because judges are not politicians.
The bottom line is come November voters can do little more than cross their fingers and hope the winners of county - level and Supreme
Court judicial elections serve in their home county and are assigned to the positions they campaigned to fill.
Democrats enjoy a 9,000 - voter enrollment advantage, but only about half the electorate is expected to vote in what will likely be a ho - hum, no -
issue judicial election.
On June 7, the New York
special judicial election, 1847, was held to fill the judicial offices elective under the new State Constitution, for example the judges of the New York Court of Appeals, the justices of the district benches of the New York Supreme Court, county judges, surrogates, district attorneys etc..
In a 2000 report, the ABA Commission on State Judicial Selection Standards warned of the «alarming increase in efforts by special interests to influence the outcome of
judicial elections through both financial contributions and attack campaigning.»
Trust in our court system has also been undermined by
judicial elections plagued with partisan and often - misleading information about the candidates because of the increase in special - interest financial contributions in the races.
A corporate - funded «Astroturf» campaign has pressed the fight in
local judicial elections, in state and federal legislatures, and in the court of public opinion.
The project aims to make
judicial elections more transparent for journalists and researchers by creating online profiles of judges that show campaign contributions, judicial opinions and biographies.
Still, if you think that this article will result in reforms, such as mandatory recusals in cases where judges have taken campaign contributions, or
replacing judicial elections with appointment, think again.
The North Carolina legislature sent to Governor McCrory for approval a bill that would revamp the state's elections, including eliminating public financing for
appellate judicial elections.
Although 38 states have some form of
judicial elections Alabama is one of only eight states that elect all state judges on a partisan ballot.
Afterwards, a state
judicial elections oversight committee was formed to advise those running for judgeships on ethics and honesty in political campaigns.
Critics of
judicial elections as well as plaintiff's lawyers in both cases have alleged that both firms contributed heavily and played big roles in electing Karmeier to the bench.
This case was a major victory for the fair courts movement, as Chief Justice Roberts joined with the court's progressive wing for only the second time, recognizing that states» compelling interest in judicial integrity
allows judicial elections to be regulated differently than other elections.
In North Carolina Right to Life Political Action Committee v. Leake, No. 5:11 - cv -472-FL, the federal district court for the Eastern District of North Carolina similarly struck down North Carolina's
judicial election matching funds provision, finding that the Supreme Court's decision in Arizona Free Enterprise Club v. Bennett controlled the case.
A now -
defeated judicial elections bill introduced in Hawaii this session was motivated by a trial judge's decision requiring the legislature to allocate more funds to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
As we explained in White, States may regulate
judicial elections differently than they regulate political elections, because the role of judges differs from the role of politicians....