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Thursday, October 02, 2008
Courts - "Campaign-finance reform urged for Michigan Supreme Court races"
Lynn Turner reports in the Kalamazoo Gazette:
KALAMAZOO -- More than $20 million has been spent in Michigan Supreme Court races since January 2000, and in some cases it's impossible to tell where the money came from, the executive director of a nonpartisan watchdog organization said Wednesday.The campaign donations raise questions about whether court candidates, once elected, play favorites with large campaign contributors, said Rich Robinson, of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
"The current system is an incubator for conflicts of interest," Robinson told about 50 people at Western Michigan University's Little Theater during a session sponsored by the League of Women Voters. * * *
The American Bar Association recommended in 2007 that campaign contributions to judges or justices be considered as grounds for disqualification from handling cases involving the contributors, Robinson said. Although 18 states, including Ohio and Indiana, implemented that rule, Michigan has not, he said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 2, 2008 11:28 AM
Posted to Courts in general | Indiana Courts