judgesonmerit.org

Last week, we wrote about a case currently before a state court panel in Wisconsin involving Michael Gableman, a then-candidate for the state’s Supreme Court who ran an ad against his incumbent opponent. The ad was quite misleading (at best).

According to the National Law Journal, that case may be ultimately headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2007, Washington State’s Supreme Court struck down a state law that prohibited false political ads about opponents as violating the First Amendment protection free speech.  If the Wisconsin Supremes now rule against Gableman’s advertisement, a conflict between the states on an interpretation of the federal constitution will give rise to a basis for Supreme Court review.

Thomas Basting, president of the State Bar of Wisconsin during the election, said the bar’s judicial integrity campaign committee also was “highly critical” of the ad.

“I think the law is eventually going to say that, when you have a judicial election, it’s just the same as any partisan election,” Basting said.

Whichever way Wisconsin rules, the very fact that judicial candidates are mixed up in these types of questions – how low can you go when running for office and stay within your First Amendment rights – highlights the inherent flaw with judicial elections.  Bastings continued in the NLJ article:

“That’s why many of us in Wisconsin, including me, have come to the conclusion we need to take a hard look at the way we choose our judges.”

What will it take to convince Pennsylvanians to take a similar hard look?

We know that many, many people are concerned about the influence of campaign contributions on judicial decision-making.  But is there really a link or is it all just a question of perception?  The National Law Journal is reporting on a new study about the link between campaign contributions and decisions in the courtroom: “Is justice for sale? There is a strong relationship between campaign contributions and decisions by state Supreme Court judges in states that elect those judges, a recent study finds.”  The study found the link to be strong in states that elect judges in partisan contests.

The study by political scientists Chris Bonneau of the University of Pittsburgh and Damon Cann of Utah State University looked at three states — Nevada, Texas and Michigan.  Michigan and Texas use partisan elections to select judges, and Nevada uses nonpartisan elections. The influence of campaign contributions on decision-making — when other factors such as ideology were controlled for — was stronger in the partisan election states.

This is important information for Pennsylvanians to hear as we enter judicial election season.  Remember, we’re one of those states that uses partisan elections.  Isn’t it time to get judges out of the fundraising business?