Litigation

NY Times Editorial Commends ?New Politics? Report

By Peter Hardin

A New York Times editorial has sounded an urgent call for basic reforms to state judicial elections, while commending the Justice at Stake Campaign and its co-authors of a report that spotlights soaring election spending.

The editorial is headlined “Fair Courts at Risk.” It warns that deep-pocketed special interests have become a “dominant force” in important state judicial contests, and races have been marked by “raucous campaigns” and “cheesy television attack ads,” with a grave impact:

“These trends have grievously compromised judicial neutrality and the appearance of neutrality at the core of the nation?s justice system.”

The editorial goes on to deplore an “ugly trend toward corrosive big money judicial elections,” which likely will “continue in the upcoming midterm elections.” Nor did the U.S. Supreme Court help with its “ignominious” ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that allows unlimited corporate and union spending in political campaigns, “including in judicial races,” the editorial notes. It concludes with a call for action:

?’Left unaddressed, the perception that justice is for sale will undermine the rule of law that the courts are supposed to uphold,’ Sandra Day O?Connor, the retired Supreme Court justice, wrote in a foreword to the report.

“The fight for basic reforms, such as switching from judicial elections to a merit-based appointive system, and adopting tough rules barring judges from ruling in cases involving major financial supporters, must be pursued with fresh urgency.”

The Times editorial applauds the “valuable” report on judicial election spending in the past decade that was compiled by Justice at Stake, the Brennan Center for Justice, the National Institute on Money in State Politics and Hofstra University law professor James Sample.

The study showed that in the past decade, fundraising by state Supreme Court candidates soared to $206.9 million, more than doubling the $83.3 million raised in the 1990s (see Gavel Grab). To put their favored candidates on many state Supreme Courts, business groups, plaintiffs? lawyers and other special interests have spent millions of dollars.

The report is entitled ?The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2000-2009: Decade of Change.? To learn about other major newspaper editorials about the report, see this earlier Gavel Grab post.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 10, 2010 (boomark / email).