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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Courts - "Fundraising for states' high-court races"
Indiana's appellate judges are appointed and subject to a yes/no retention ballot question every 10 years. But in many states, high court judges are elected.
20 states held high-court elections this year, according to this USA Today story by Fredreka Schouten that looks at money and judicial elections. It begins:
WASHINGTON — A growing number of states are rewriting their rules on selecting judges to curb the influence of special interests on judicial contests.Here is the Justice at Stake website.Thirty-nine states elect at least some of their judges, and judicial candidates for high courts raised $206.4 million for campaigns from 2000 through 2009, according to Justice at Stake, a non-partisan coalition that promotes impartial courts. That's up from $83.3 million the previous decade.
Outside interests spent another $39.3 million on TV ads in judicial elections in the past 10 years, the group's data show.
"It makes it look like justice is for sale," said Ciara Torres-Spelliscy of The Brennan Center for Justice, which has pushed for changes in judicial elections.
West Virginia last week became the fourth state to adopt public financing for judicial elections when Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, signed a law establishing a public funding program. It will go into effect in 2012 for two state Supreme Court elections.
Wisconsin created a public financing system for state Supreme Court races in December.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 31, 2010 09:56 AM
Posted to Courts in general