Judicial Elections

Incumbents Running Unopposed Should Not Be Rewarded With Full Terms

Steven Kurlander | Posted 04.23.2012

Read More: Anti-Incumbent, Recall Elections, Incumbents, Term Limits, Judicial Elections, Florida Judges, Florida Politics, Florida Elections, Politics News

If there were contested general elections in every political race, there would be no talk of mandatory term limits because the voters would have a greater ability to vote out of office those who did not deserve to be there.

Read Post

Citizens United, the Supreme Court, and Our Independent Judiciary

Bob Edgar | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: Elections 2012, Supreme Court, Citizens United, Judicial Elections, Campaign Finance, Politics News

Justices of our Supreme Court -- lawyers at the pinnacle of that system -- have opened the door to an unprecedented assault on judicial independence.

Read Post

Just What Is Ricardo Lugo Running for?

John V. Santore | Posted 05.26.2012

Read More: John v Santore, Politics, Judge, Ann Lousin, John v. Santore, Lugo, Sixth Sub-Circuit, Ricardo Lugo, Judicial Elections, Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, Michael Rich, Judicial Elections Chicago, Illinois Politics, Illiniois Judicial System, Chicago Politics, Illinois State Politics, Video, Chicago News

The following audio report examines judicial elections in Chicago. The campaign of Ricardo Lugo, who is running for the judgeship in the Sixth Sub-Circuit, is used as a case study.

Read Post

Should Judge Cebull Resign for His Racist Email?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.10.2012

Read More: Judicial Ethics, Judge Cebull, Judges and Politics, Perception of Judiciary, Impeachment, Judicial Elections, Judge Racist Email, Judge Cebull Email, Racist Email, Montana Judge, Politics News

What next? The facts are undisputed. The email was racist; its content despicable. It was forwarded by a sitting federal judge, indeed the chief judge of the district. Is this a wrong that can be righted by an apology?

Read Post

Newt Gingrich Pushes Truly Radical Idea

HuffingtonPost.com | Paul Blumenthal | Posted 12.16.2011

Read More: Iowa, Judges, Ron Paul, Judicial Elections, Rick Santorum, Bob Vander Plaats, Elections 2012, Evangelicals, Campaign Finance, Video, Republican Primary, Newt Gingrich 2012, 2012 Election, Iowa Caucuses, Rick Santorum 2012, Ron Paul 2012, Newt Gingrich, Republicans, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- In Thursday night's Republican presidential debate, the Fox News moderators announced that they would ask one question that had not been...

Read Whole Story

Family Feud For Judgeship In Rural Town

HuffingtonPost.com | John Celock | Posted 01.03.2012

Read More: Video, Western New York, Bert Mathes, New York Politics, Judicial Elections, State and Local Government, Family Politics, Barre NY, Elections 2011, Politics News

Thanksgiving could be an interesting holiday in one western New York family, coming just after a grandson goes head-to-head with his grandfather in a ...

Read Whole Story

Bought Justice

Dylan Ratigan | Posted 01.01.2012

Read More: Federal Courts, Supreme Court, Courts, Judicial Corruption, Judicial Elections, Politics News

Our courts have as of yet been exempt from the same level of scrutiny as Congress and our politicians, but there is a pervasive, ongoing corporate attack on judicial integrity, and what we're seeing is that a lack of aligned interests, secrecy, and corruption are eroding that system as well.

Read Post

Brilliance and Humanity

Andrea Lyon | Posted 12.27.2011

Read More: Judiciary, Social Justice, State-Supreme-Courts, Criminal Justice System, Gay Marriage, Judicial Elections, Politics News

You may remember that three Iowa Supreme Court justices were voted out of office based on targeted attacks about their votes on gay marriage.

Read Post

Is It Time to Take Away My Right to Vote... For Judicial Candidates?

Jessica Levinson | Posted 10.01.2011

Read More: Judges, Harvey Silberman, Judges Elections, Elected Judges, Judicial Elections, Judge Elections, Politics News

Can we count on judges to be truly independent, to make decisions only based only on the law, and not based on politics and/or what is popular, if they must stand before the public every few years in order to keep their jobs?

Read Post

A Call for Transparency: Illinois Judicial Vacancies Should Be Made Public

Katy Welter | Posted 08.24.2011

Read More: Judicial Vacancies, Judicial Accountability, Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois, Transparency, Judicial Appointments, Judicial Elections, Chicago News

Illinois alone empowers its Supreme Court with absolute authority to fill judicial vacancies. Given that it grants one nominating body sole discretion over these appointments, transparency is especially important.

Read Post

Will the Supreme Court Prevent Citizens United From Being Fixed?

Doug Kendall | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Supreme Court, Citizens United, Koch, Arizona Clean Elections Act, Judicial Elections, Campaign Finance, Mccomish, Politics News

Will the Court that permitted the injection of unlimited corporate expenditures into our election process now prevent one of the best ways to ensure candidates without corporate backing have a fighting chance? We'll know the answer soon.

Read Post

Class Warfare III -- Losing Your Right to Fight Back

Larry Beinhart | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Trial Lawyers, Rape, Class Warfare, Medical Malpractice, Tort Reform, Halliburton, Judicial Elections, McDonald's, Tobacco, Hot-Coffee, Judicial Campaigns, Business News

Litigation seems to be a particularly American disease. Why? We don't believe in collective responsibility and collective solutions.

Read Post

Jukebox Justice: American Judges for Sale

Charles Kolb | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Judicial System, Campaign Finance, Judicial Elections, Politics News

In approximately 40 states, judges are elected, and as part of that process the candidates or incumbents accept campaign money from parties or attorneys who later appear before them in lawsuits.

Read Post

Judges Should Be Evaluated for Performance, Not Politics

Katy Welter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Chicago Appleseed, Judicial Elections, Cook County Judicial Performance Commission, Chicago News

When a judge is weighing the merits of a case, the popularity of her decision should be the last thing on her mind.

Read Post

Sharia Returns to Oklahoma

Christopher Brauchli | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Oklahoma, Sharia Law, Judicial Elections, Elections 2010, Politics News

The lessons from Illinois and Iowa are that judicial retention elections are becoming increasingly ugly and are beginning to look like contested political contests instead of non-partisan judicial retention elections.

Read Post

Three Myths About Judicial Elections

Meryl Chertoff | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Federal Judges, State Judges, Nevada Proposition 1, Judges, Proposition 1, Judicial Elections, Politics News

Proposition 1's defeat in Nevada last week says a lot about what Americans think they know about state judges, and a lot of that is wrong.

Read Post

Wave of Voter Anger Leaves Damage, Opportunities

Hans Johnson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Steve Cooley, Anti-Islamic Sentiment, Russ Feingold, Populism, Minnesota, Prop 8, New York State, John Boehner, 2010 Elections, Michael Bennet, Sharia Law, Religious Pluralism, Andy Pugno, Barbara Boxer, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antigay Initiatives, Oklahoma, Iowa Senate Election 2010 Iowa Senate Election, Arizona Immigration Law, Betsy Butler, Iowa Supreme Court, Oregon, Anti-Immigrant, El Paso, Patty Murray, Kamala Harris, Domestic Partnerships, Judicial Elections, Ohio, Money in Politics, Washington State, Citizens United, Marriage Equality, Labor, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, LGBT Rights, Voter ID Laws, Harry Reid, Hawaii, Florida, Bowling Green, Patrick Murphy, Politics News

It is often the least of these who have the most at stake in elections. Nov. 2, 2010, was a night of reckoning for advocates of working people, immigr...

Read Post

What About All Those Judges On The Ballot? A Voter's Guide

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Election Guide, Chicago Judges, Judgeships, Cook County Election Guide, Judicial Elections, Chicago, Chicago Election Guide, Illinois, Cook County Judges, Chicago News

It's Election Day. You head into the voting booth, ballot in hand, and get to work. Senator and Governor, you know all about. You've got an opinion on...

Read Whole Story

Westchester Democratic, Conservative, Independence, and Working Families Parties Nominate Censured Judge for Re-Election

David A. Singer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Bill Edwards, Westchester Conservative Party, Westchester Working Families Party, Hal Greenwald, Judicial Elections, Westchester Democratic Party, Anthony Decintio, Michelle Schauer, Edward Borrelli, Mary Clark, Westchester County, David Klein, Patricia O'Callaghan, Westchester County Family Court, Nilda Morales Horowitz, Westchester Independence Party, Raymond Belair, Family Court, New York News

If you think you can simply defer to political parties to make the choice in judicial elections for you, think again.

Read Post

Partisan Justice

Andrea Lyon | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Criminal Justice, Political Action Committees, Tort Reform, Judicial-Independence, Judges, Judicial Elections, Chicago News

Justice of a state supreme court is not a police officer or sheriff. He or she is there to follow statutes and case law precedent and to mete out justice. Sometimes that might mean making a decision that requires siding with someone unsavory or unpopular.

Read Post

Doctors and Insurance Companies Purchase their Policy at the Ohio Supreme Court

Jeff Coryell | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mary Jane Trapp, Justice for Sale, Eric Brown, Ohio Supreme Court, Judicial Elections, Politics News

Although judicial elections tend to attract far less notice than top-of-the-ticket races, the scandalous "justice for sale" financing of Republican c...

Read Post

Setting Colorado Precedent in Judicial Elections

Luis Toro | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Colorado Ethics Watch, Clear the Bench Colorado, Colorado Supreme Court, Judicial Elections, Campaign Finance, Denver News

As a result of this ruling, judges and justices will be able to decide cases without having to wonder whether their decision will cause a handful of wealthy individuals or businesses to fund a campaign to unseat them.

Read Post

The Danger of Ousting Judges for Unpopular Decisions

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Unpopular Judicial Decisions, National Organization of Marriage, Judicial Elections, Punishing Judges, Ousting Judges, Same-Sex Marriages, Politics News

If anything can convince us that judicial elections should be ended, it is the current attempt in several states to oust judges for unpopular decisions. This is a chilling threat to the existence of an independent judiciary.

Read Post

Elected Justice

Andrea Lyon | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Judicial Independence, Judicial Elections, Fair-Trial, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Judicial Reform, Independent Judiciary, Judicial Campaigns, Politics News

Judicial candidates running election campaigns sound more like they are running for sheriff than running to be a neutral arbiter of the law.

Read Post

Money vs. Judicial Merit Selection

Christopher Brauchli | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Don Blankenship, Wall Street Journal, Judicial Elections, Media News

In a recent editorial, the Wall Street Journal applauded the use of dollars to fund the campaigns of judges in states that still enjoy the direct elections of judges.

Read Post