judgesonmerit.org

In the wake of another expensive Supreme Court race, Alabama is looking for a way to deal with the problem of money in judicial elections. The Press Register reports that a bill has been introduced into the legislature to cap contributions to judicial campaigns at $500; currently there are no limits:

Critics have said the money present in the campaigns could lead to judges feeling beholden to contributors should they appear in court. Language in the act says that the large amount of money in judicial races creates “the potential for corruption and, as important, the appearance of corruption.”

This is not the first effort to address the problem. To our mind, contribution limits are not the best solution, because it doesn’t remove money from the process and actually encourages candidates to seek out even more donors. But we’re glad others are taking note that there is a big problem when judicial candidates raise money from the lawyers and parties who they’ll ultimately be judging.

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