Litigation

AL Article Cites Majorities for Election Reform, JAS

By Peter Hardin

“We’re No. 1,” the Alabama State Bar president, Alyce Spruell, says about a distinction she wishes her state did not have: It’s the most expensive state for elections to the state Supreme Court.

“We’re No. 1 in a category in which we should not be No. 1,” Spruell told the Birmingham News for an article that reported at length on a Justice at Stake-commissioned national poll.

It showed  solid bipartisan majorities believe campaign cash influences judges’ rulings and greater transparency is desirable.

The JAS-commissioned poll was the lead topic of the article, which was headlined, “National poll says voters want special interests out of judicial races, cites Alabama Supreme Court campaign.”

“The American mainstream wants courts to be off-limits to special interest money and partisan politics,”  Bert Brandenberg, executive director of Justice at Stake, was quoted as saying. “The desire for impartial courts is broad and bipartisan.”

According to the article, “[R]espondents in the South had the strongest sentiment that campaign money greatly influences judicial decision-making and that judges should be recused in cases involving large donors.” It went on to quote Charles Hall, JAS communications director, describing the Harris Interactive poll: “It shows people in the South, including Alabama, concerned about these issues.”

While some reformers have pushed for changes to Alabama’s judicial elections, they have not succeeded. Spruell said new tactics, including public education and consensus-building, will be used by the state bar.

“The business sector, political parties, our profession and the public must find a unified approach,” Spruell said. “Otherwise any bill is dead on arrival.”

To read the details behind Alabama’s ranking, check out ?The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2000-2009: Decade of Change,? recently issued by Justice at Stake and its partner groups.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 13, 2010 (boomark / email).