Category Archives: judicial elections

“Heated MT Judicial Campaign Spawns Free-Speech Lawsuit”

May 7, 2017, 11:46 amcampaigns, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Courthouse News Service: A new federal lawsuit involving a contentious Montana judicial race last year claims an investigation into campaign statements is having a chilling effect on one of the candidate’s ability to defend himself in disciplinary proceedings. Robert Myers… Continue reading

“Federal Voting Rights Lawsuit in Texas Continues Following Rejection of State’s Motion to Dismiss”

April 5, 2017, 6:43 pmjudicial elections, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Release via email: This week, a federal district court judge denied the State of Texas’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the method of electing Texas’s Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals violates the Voting Rights Act. The… Continue reading

“Williams-Yulee and the Anomaly of Campaign Finance Law”

March 27, 2017, 1:17 pmcampaign finance, judicial elections, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Noah Lindell has written this comment for the Yale Law Journal. A taste: This Comment enters an existing debate over how courts should analyze campaign finance laws and other election regulations. Judges and authors have noted that the Court has… Continue reading

“Judicial Candidates’ Right to Lie”

March 27, 2017, 1:13 pmcampaigns, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Nat Stern has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Maryland Law Review). Here is the abstract: A large majority of state judges are chosen through some form of popular election. In Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, the Supreme Court… Continue reading

“Big Money’s Other Casualty: Fair Courts”

January 25, 2017, 8:28 amcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Dorothy Samuels and Alicia Bannon for TAP.

“Former Wisconsin judges seek rules on campaign donations”

January 11, 2017, 5:01 pmcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: More than 50 retired jurists on Wednesday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to require judges and justices to step aside when hearing cases involving those who helped bankroll their elections. The proposal from the 54 former judges comes… Continue reading

“NC Senate leader on legislature’s agenda this week: ‘There are a lot of things that are being talked about’”

December 13, 2016, 8:20 pmchicanery, judicial electionsRick Hasen

News and Observer: House Speaker Tim Moore says there is no plan to add two seats to the N.C. Supreme Court, and he said he’d be opposed to the change. “The only people discussing a Supreme Court bill are the… Continue reading

“Flagler Circuit Judge Scott DuPont Faces Charges of ‘Recklessly’ Spreading Baseless Claims About Opponent”

December 8, 2016, 5:06 pmcampaigns, judicial electionsRick Hasen

FlaglerLive.com: The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, the investigative arm of the Florida judicial system, last week filed a notice of formal charges against Flagler County Circuit Judge Scott DuPont stemming from allegations that he may have acted unethically and… Continue reading

“Spending By Outside Groups in Judicial Races Hits Record High, Secret Money Dominates”

November 15, 2016, 3:28 pmcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Brennan Center.

NC: “State GOP leaders could neutralize Democrats’ Supreme Court majority by adding justices”

November 11, 2016, 3:44 pmchicanery, judicial electionsRick Hasen

“GOP legislative leaders could make rare court-packing move to keep partisan control of state Supreme Court”

November 11, 2016, 1:33 pmjudicial electionsRick Hasen

NC Policy Watch.

“Rare big win for Democrats tilts party balance on NC Supreme Court”

November 11, 2016, 1:19 pmjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Charlotte Observer: As people pore over election results, trying to make sense of a year that has baffled many, some in North Carolina are trying to decipher the reasons for Wake County Superior Court Judge Mike Morgan’s resounding victory over… Continue reading