Litigation

USA Today Column Eyes Caperton Issues

By Charlie Hall

A terrific column by Tony Mauro, respected Supreme Court reporter for the Washington Legal Times, appears in USA Today’s online edition. It is titled, “Can Money Obstruct Justice?”

Mauro cites a recent poll by Justice at Stake and another by USA Today that show strong public belief that judges should not handle cases involving major campaign benefactors, and adds:

The noble promise engraved above the entrance to the Supreme Court is “Equal Justice Under Law.” It is not: “Justice Goes to the Highest Bidder.”

Yet that is what many Americans think is happening in their courts. With businesses and interest groups pouring more and more money into state judicial elections ? more than $34 million for state supreme court races alone in 2006 ? the public can’t be faulted for concluding that donors are getting what they pay for, namely favorable treatment from judges who are supposed to be impartial.

To see Tony’s column, click here.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 26, 2009 (boomark / email).