WLF: What is the judicial role? Are judges mere umpires who call balls and strikes based solely on rules made by others? Or are judges lawmakers in their own right, creating laws and making public policy? The U.S. Supreme Court … Continue reading
Category Archives: judicial elections
Brennan Center release. … Continue reading
Release: Nearly two years after a federal trial court found that Louisiana’s use of at-large voting for electing five judges to a state court with jurisdiction over Terrebonne Parish violates the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution, the NAACP Legal … Continue reading
Press Release. … Continue reading
Release: State supreme courts, which sit at the top of state judiciaries, don’t have gender parity and don’t reflect the racial or ethnic composition of the communities they serve, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice … Continue reading
Opinion in Adams v. Delaware: James R. Adams is a resident and member of the State Bar of Delaware. For some time, he has expressed a desire to be considered for a judicial position in that state. Following the announcement … Continue reading
At the time I write this post, the closely watched race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a nailbiter: The loser can request a recount if the race is within 1 percent, and the state pays if it is at … Continue reading
Howard has the details. … Continue reading
CA3 Blog: The Delaware Constitution sets out a unique method for selecting state-court judges: the Governor appoints them (based on recommendations from nominating commissions, and without legislative involvement) subject to a requirement that the judges of each court contain a … Continue reading
Brandice Canes-Wrone, Tom Clark and Amy Semet have written this article for the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. Here is the abstract: Scholarship finds that in states with judicial elections, public opinion affects judges’ decisions on hot‐button campaign issues such … Continue reading
Detroit News: The campaign was roiled in early August when the state’s high court ruled 4-3 to let Proposal 2 on the Nov. 6 ballot, despite arguments from Republican officials and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce that it would change too … Continue reading
Release: The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t the only institution roiled by a highly politicized judicial selection process. In a new report, the Brennan Center calls for reform to state supreme courts, where high-cost elections have become the norm. The report, “Choosing … Continue reading
Unusual story in the Detroit News: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Clement said she faced “bullying and intimidation” while deliberating a case that paved the way for a redistricting proposal to go on the November ballot. Clement, a Gov. Rick Snyder appointee … Continue reading
Reuters: The biggest difference between a John Grisham novel and the allegations in a racketeering class action State Farm settled Tuesday for $250 million is that Grisham would have had the insurance company buy off a state Supreme Court candidate with a … Continue reading
M Live: Supreme Court Justices Beth Clement and Kurtis Wilder were formally nominated by the Michigan Republican Party to run for reelection, despite organized opposition to Clement’s record on the state’s highest court. Both Wilder and Clement were appointed by … Continue reading
Jame Sample for NBC Think: In West Virginia, Justice Robin Davis spent an absurd $500,278.23 in taxpayer dollars on renovating her office alone. Mind you, Davis is the same jurist who, through her husband, sold a $1.3 million Lear Jet to an attorney … Continue reading
WaPo reports. … Continue reading
See this thread: This is a BFD. The GOP-controlled legislature dragged its feet forvmonths on impeaching these justices to prevent their replacement by voters via special elections this fall. Missing today's deadline lets Republican Gov. Jim Justice appoint their replacements. … Continue reading
News and Observer: North Carolina Republicans are crying foul over a candidate who could change the balance of the state Supreme Court. And that candidate is a Republican. Raleigh attorney Chris Anglin filed at the last minute last week. He … Continue reading
Today’s opinion in Platt v. Board of Commissioners continues the trend since the Supreme Court’s Williams-Yulee case upholding a number of judicial speech and conduct rules (more about that coming in the 2018 Election Law casebook supplement). The provisions upheld … Continue reading
News and Observer: In the first year in decades that all judicial races will be partisan races, North Carolina will not have primary elections that allow the political parties to winnow the names of candidates who will appear on ballots … Continue reading
SF Chronicle reports. First CA judge to be recalled since 1932. … Continue reading
This can’t be good. The way Mecklenburg County voters choose judges would change dramatically under a bill that passed the North Carolina Senate Wednesday and appears to be moving quickly through the General Assembly. The county’s eight Superior Court judges, … Continue reading
James Sample, who does some of the best legal work on judicial selection mechanisms, has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Depaul Law Review). Here is the abstract: The vast majority of judicial selection discussions, whether in academia, on the … Continue reading
Details: Judicial Gerrymandering? The Voting Rights Act, Judicial Elections, and Redistricting May 2, 2018 01:00 PM – 02:00 PM Event Location: ACS Webinar , Details: In recent weeks, the North Carolina General Assembly has proposed redrawing the map … Continue reading
No noted dissents on today’s order list. I had thought in reading the cert petition this one had a decent chance of a grant. … Continue reading
NYT editorial. … Continue reading
Rewire News: For well over a century, Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court was largely considered to be an exemplary legal body, lauded for its fair-minded and rigorous approach. In the past decade, however, there’s been a significant erosion of that reputation, … Continue reading
Howard Bashman in the Legal Intelligencer: In my view, it would be a huge mistake for Republican state legislators to actually initiate impeachment proceedings against Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices for having issued rulings with which the legislators disagree as a … Continue reading
Read it here. … Continue reading
I have written this draft paper for the Annual Review of Political Science (forthcoming 2019). Here is the abstract: The period of increased polarization in the United States among the political branches and citizenry affects the selection, work, perception, and … Continue reading
Christopher Ingraham for WaPo. … Continue reading
WisPolitics: Middleton attorney Tim Burns said he has not started to process whether his approach to the Supreme Court primary was a mistake. But he believes it is the most honest way to run. “I am still just 100 percent, … Continue reading
Richard Briffault has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, DePaul Law Review). Here is the abstract: In its cases dealing with judicial elections, the Court has cycled back and forth over whether to treat judges as representatives of the voters, like … Continue reading
NYT: In Pennsylvania, a Republican lawmaker unhappy with a State Supreme Court ruling on gerrymandering wants to impeach the Democratic justices who authored it. In Iowa, a running dispute over allowing firearms in courthouses has prompted bills by Republican sponsors … Continue reading
Courthouse News Service: “Since 1945, only five of the 76 justices to serve on the Supreme Court, a mere 6.6 percent, were Latino. During the same period, 69 of those 76 justices, or 89.5 percent, were white,” LUPE said in … Continue reading
Fascinating Patrick Marley report in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Usually it is conservatives pushing the envelope on judicial campaign speech. But now there’s this: Tim Burns is doing what state Supreme Court candidates have long avoided — telling voters what he thinks of … Continue reading
Following up on this post, the NC Legislature has now sought emergency relief in the 4th Circuit. … Continue reading
You can find the opinion here. In light of the state apparently offering no reason at all for why it made this change as to appellate judges, the federal court’s decision makes a lot of sense. It might be a … Continue reading
The Recall Elections Blog reports. … Continue reading
From the opinion: Montanans select their judges through nonpartisan popular elections. In an effort to keep those elections nonpartisan, Montana has restricted judicial-campaign speech. One of those restrictions is before us—a rule that prohibits candidates from seeking, accepting, or using … Continue reading
Big news and a race to watch. … Continue reading
Facing South reports. … Continue reading
Trip Gabriel for the NYT: Republicans with a firm grip on the North Carolina legislature — and, until January, the governor’s seat — enacted a conservative agenda in recent years, only to have a steady stream of laws affecting voting … Continue reading
Head-scratcher from the Nevada Independent. … Continue reading
WRAL: The state Senate voted Monday night to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of a measure that would cancel all judicial primary elections in 2018. The House is expected to follow suit Tuesday, although that vote may be delayed. Senate … Continue reading
Think Progress: Many critics of the proposal, including judges, have expressed concerns about the impact on judicial diversity. An analysis by NC Policy Watch reported that judges of color on the district courts are more likely to be “double bunked,” … Continue reading
Now looks like 2018 primaries may be going away, and the filing date for races may be pushed back … which allows more time for a pending redistricting bill. … Continue reading
Anne Blythe’s News and Observer piece begins: Doug McCullough was five months away from his deadline for mandatory retirement from the state Court of Appeals bench when the chairman of the state Republican Party gave him a call. Democrat Roy Cooper would … Continue reading
From the 91-page opinion, also finding Voting Rights Act discriminatory effect: District-based voting was rejected for the 32nd JDC on at least six occasions between 1997 and 2011. Taken as a whole, this timeline shows discriminatory intent. Local white officials, … Continue reading