Litigation

Mother Jones Magazine Report Cites JAS

By Peter Hardin

The national muckraking magazine Mother Jones has turned a spotlight on a trend toward “astonishingly expensive” judicial elections that get little voter attention, and the magazine cites the Justice at Stake Campaign.

The article discusses the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that removed restrictions on corporations and labor unions spending  for advertising in political elections.

Bert Brandenburg, JAS executive director, told the magazine that given the lower profile status of judicial election contests, it may not take a lot to tilt the outcome. “A judicial election is a better investment for anyone spending money,” Brandenburg said, than a congressional campaign, for example.

The editors at Mother Jones entitled the article, “Permission to Encroach the Bench: Why bother with a congressman when you can buy yourself a judge?”

Also quoted in the article was James Sample of Hofstra University.  Citizens United, he said, is “going to increase the ability of corporations, and to a much lesser extent unions, to engage in electioneering that is basically aimed at winning particular cases.”

To learn more about Citizens United, check out Gavel Grab. To read more about money in judicial elections, see the Justice at Stake issues page on the topic.

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 20, 2010 (boomark / email).