Pressures of upcoming re-election and retention election campaigns make judges more punitive toward defendants in criminal cases, according to a new analysis of social science research by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.
How Judicial Elections Impact Criminal Cases looked at 10 empirical studies examining whether and how judicial elections impact criminal justice outcomes. These studies, conducted across states, court levels, and type of elections, all found that proximity to re-election made judges more likely to impose longer sentences, affirm death sentences, and even override sentences of life imprisonment to impose the death penalty.
The analysis also assessed 15 years of television advertising data in state supreme court races, as well as a series of reports synthesizing this data written by the Brennan Center, Justice at Stake, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics. This data reveals that TV advertising has become a staple of high-cost judicial elections and ads discussing criminal justice themes have become increasingly prominent. In 2013-14, a record 56 percent of ads discussed candidates’ decisions in criminal cases — up from the previous record of 33 percent in both the 2007-08 and 2009-10 cycles. These ads, attacking candidates for being “soft on crime” or touting them as “tough on crime,” focus voters’ attention on candidates’ records in criminal cases, often in a misleading way.