judgesonmerit.org

Today, the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice and the National Institute on Money in State Politics released “The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2009-2010.”  The Report chronicles spending during the 2009-2010 judicial election cycle across the nation, and finds that Pennsylvania’s 2009 Supreme Court race was second in cost only to Michigan.  But for the 2007-2010 period, which encompassed two Supreme Court election cycles in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania remained “the nation’s costliest state for high court races.” PMC issued a press release with the Justice at Stake Campaign to highlight the Pennsylvania data.

In addition to the Report, Justice at Stake today also released national polling data revealing that 83% of voters believe that campaign contributions in judicial elections have a “great deal” or “some” influence on judicial decisions.  This is consistent with the 2010 Pennsylvania poll (the full poll is available here) that revealed that 75% were concerned about the effects of such contributions. More and more, judicial elections are creating and perpetuating the perception that “justice is for sale.”

The good news is the poll demonstrates public support for solving the problem by changing the way we select judges: 62% favor Merit Selection.  This mirrors the 2010 Pa. poll as well.

Merit Selection legislation is pending in the House and Senate, and it is likely that the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the legislation in the next few weeks.  We are hopeful that this will move us forward to give Pennsylvanians the opportunity to decide whether to change the way we choose appellate court judges.

Today, PMC partners Justice At Stake, the Brennan Center for Justice and the National Institute on Money in State Politics issued a new report analyzing the last decade of judicial elections entitled “The New
Politics of Judicial Elections: 2000-2009.” Pennsylvania is prominently featured in the Report, which examines the explosion in fundraising and spending in these elections as well as the increasing participation of special
interests.

The Report notes that Pennsylvania ranks second in the nation for election spending during the decade.  In addition, Pennsylvania was home to the most expensive Supreme Court election in the nation during the 2007-08
cycle.  In that year, there were two vacancies on the Supreme Court. According to the Report, candidate and third-party spending totaled $10.3 million.  In 2009, as the report notes, the high spending trend continued in Pennsylvania, and we saw the most expensive single seat race in our history.

The Report certainly highlights the increasing importance of cold, hard cash in judicial elections and also reminds us that poll after poll demonstrates that the public — and judges as well — believe that campaign contributions influence judicial decision making.

But there is some cause for optimism.  The Report notes that reform efforts are making progress, and that Merit Selection is gaining ground in states throughout the nation.

The Report presents a cautionary tale — state judicial elections are getting much worse when measured by the factors that affect public confidence: money and special interest participation.  The public wants
fair and impartial courts. Money is widely viewed as a corrupting influence and it undermines the public’s confidence in our courts and judiciary.  There is a clear solution: get money out of the process of
choosing judges. The most effective way to do that is Merit Selection.

Here are the links to the Report:

Full Report

Letter From Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

Executive Summary

State Profiles, 2000-2009