On January 5, 2009, an unprecedented array of jurists, business leaders and civic reform groups filed briefs in Caperton v. Massey,  a landmark case involving campaign contributions and fair, impartial courts. They urged the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that in some cases judges must step aside when major financial supporters come to court. The filers included 27 former state Supreme Court justices, a business group with support from Intel, Lockheed Martin, Pepsi and Wal-Mart, and a host of reform groups including the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake. For a release with excerpts from the briefs, click here.

In a potentially landmark ethics case, the Supreme Court will decide whether campaign spending by a mining executive should have forced a West Virginia justice to step aside from a case involving the executive's company. See Gavel Grab for details.

Slate Article Puts Focus on Merit Selection and Business
Should business invest itself in a growing campaign against merit selection of judges? That’s the topic of “What’s the Best Way to Pack a Court?,”  an article by Justice at Stake Executive Director Bert Brandenburg that appears today in Slate Magazine.  Brandenburg suggests that the campaign’s real goal is to open up new courts to elections  that can be swayed by outside groups. But he adds that many business leaders aren’t biting on the anti-merit pitch. To see the Slate article, click here. To see a fuller discussion of the article in Gavel Grab, click here.

State elections for Supreme Court justices ended 2008 much as they began, punctuated by runaway spending, partisan pressure, angry accusations and costly, secretly-funded ads by third-party special interests that often drowned out the candidates.

In the final week before the race, almost $5 million was spent on television advertising nationally. Even though several Supreme Court races were uncontested, more money was spent on advertising than in 2006, according to data compiled by the Brennan Center for Justice. [Click here for more of the release]

11/5/08: 2008 Elections Recap - More Money, More Nastiness

10/31/08: Michigan Court Race Is Nation’s Dirtiest, Watchdog Group Says

10/31/08: This Week in Judicial Politics

10/28/08: New Eyes on Justice
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