Kentucky

Judge Karen Caldwell ruled this Monday that the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission's rules prohibiting judicial candidates from identifying themselves by political party affiliations and soliciting campaign funds were unconstitutional.  2006 Supreme Court candidate Marcus Carey had filed the suit against the commission and prevailed; a permanent injunction was issued by Judge Caldwell.

Here is a link to the opinion and order and to the judgement filed in district court.

Here is the story at www.lex18.com news in Lexington.

Judge Overturns Some Rules Of Ky. Judge Campaigns

Posted: Oct 27, 2008 06:51 PM

Updated: Oct 27, 2008 06:51 PM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Judicial candidates in Kentucky may now identify themselves by party and can raise campaign cash after a federal judge threw out some of the regulations restricting such activities.

U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell in Frankfort ruled Monday that the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission's rule against judicial candidates identifying themselves by party is unconstitutional.

Caldwell also found unconstitutional the bar association's rule against judges and judicial candidates soliciting campaign funds.

Caldwell permanently barred the Judicial Conduct Commission from enforcing those parts of the rules. But, Caldwell noted, the rest of the regulations regarding the conduct of judges and judicial candidates may continue to be enforced.

The ruling came in a case brought by Marcus Carey, who ran an unsuccessful race for the state Supreme Court in 2006.

Carey argued that rules barring him from declaring his views on such legal issues as abortion and gay marriage infringe on his free-speech rights.

Carey challenged a rule that says judicial candidates must not "intentionally or recklessly" make a statement that could be perceived "by a reasonable person" as committing them to rule a certain way on an issue they could hear.

The new rule was drafted after a judge struck down a previous regulation that prevented judicial candidates from making statements that "commit or appear to commit" to positions on cases they likely would hear.

Carey, a former Kentucky Republican Party official, lost the 2006 race to Justice Wil Schroeder. Carey's attorney, Jim Bopp of Terre Haute, Ind., said the ruling will give voters more information about who is running for judge and allow candidates to be more open on the campaign trail.

"It will significantly affect their ability to connect with voters about their general judicial philosophy," Bopp said.

Gregg Hovious, an attorney for the Judicial Conduct Commission, did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Monday. A spokeswoman for the Kentucky Bar Association also did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Caldwell also struck down the rules on fund-raising.Under the Judicial Conduct Commission's ethics rules, judges were forbidden from soliciting campaign contributions to prevent corruption or the appearance of corruption. But judges were allowed to use surrogates to collect campaign cash.

"However, requiring that the judge's agent make the solicitation rather than the judge himself does not appreciably lessen the damaged caused by such solicitations to the state's interest in an impartial and open-minded judiciary or the appearance of the same," Caldwell wrote.

Caldwell also found little basis for restricting judges and judicial candidates from aligning with a particular political party.

The Judicial Conduct Commission and the Kentucky Bar Association argued against lifting restrictions on partisan alignments for judges, saying people may vote a straight party ticket without considering the candidate's qualifications.

Caldwell said since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Minnesota's restrictive rules on judicial campaigns in 2005, judges have been able to tell voters where they stand on issues.

"Thus, if candidates are permitted to identify their party, that will not be the only information voters have to guide their choices," Caldwell wrote.