Category Archives: judicial elections

“Rebecca Bradley left court arguments early for speech”

March 4, 2016, 9:33 amcampaign finance, campaigns, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Getting your priorities straight: MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley left oral arguments in a pending case before they had concluded so she could give a speech to the state chamber of commerce, a group that’s… Continue reading

“Outside Conservative Groups Overwhelm Arkansas Judge Races”

February 26, 2016, 5:04 pmjudicial electionsRick Hasen

AP: The Judicial Crisis Network, a Washington-based group, has spent more than $600,000 on television ads targeting Justice Courtney Goodson as she runs for the chief justice post. A second group, the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Judicial Fairness Initiative,… Continue reading

“Judges rule out up-or-down vote for state Supreme Court”

February 18, 2016, 8:33 pmjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Charlotte Observer: A three-judge panel has decided a new option for choosing members of the North Carolina Supreme Court is unconstitutional. Lawyers were alerted Thursday to the judges’ ruling striking down the 2015 law creating “retention elections.” The Superior Court… Continue reading

6th Circuit Rejects Challenge to Ohio Law Keeping Partisan Information of Judicial Candidates Off Ballot

February 11, 2016, 9:06 amjudicial elections, political partiesRick Hasen

Opinion: Ohio elects its state judges through a hybrid process. Judicial candidates are first selected through partisan primary elections. On the general-election ballot, however, their names show no partisan affiliation, even though judicial candidates may affiliate with political parties… Continue reading

“WI Supreme Court Again Tries Thwarting SCOTUS Review of Its Conflicts of Interest”

February 11, 2016, 7:32 amchicanery, judicial elections, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Brendan Fischer blogs.

“Judicial Campaign Finance: Fresh Thinking in the Ninth Circuit”

January 29, 2016, 7:19 amcampaign finance, campaigns, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Bauer‘s got it right: On the question of judicial candidates endorsing or campaigning with other nonjudicial candidates, Judge Berzon’s takes the problem to be one independent branch becoming beholden to or politically entangled with others, not corrupt relationships between… Continue reading

Big 9th Circuit Win in Judicial Campaign Restrictions Case

January 27, 2016, 2:24 pmcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

The Ninth Circuit en banc has unanimously (with one concurring opinion) upheld three judicial conduct rules in Arizona. In Wolfson v. Concannon, a state judicial candidate challenged a rule that prevented him from personally soliciting contributions. He also challenged additional… Continue reading

January 21, 2016, 8:22 pmjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Kate Berry blogs at the Brennan Center.

“Illinois election board to decide fate of three St. Clair County judges”

January 20, 2016, 9:49 amjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Interesting: Is a judge acting unethically if he maneuvers to keep his job by choosing to run in a partisan election, thus avoiding the higher vote threshold required for retention in a nonpartisan vote? A small band of sign-waving… Continue reading

“In battle over ‘forced recusals,’ Louisiana Supreme Court justice takes his case to federal court”

January 8, 2016, 3:12 pmcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Fascinating: In an unusual legal skirmish, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeff Hughes filed a federal lawsuit over the holidays against four of his fellow justices, challenging their decision to exclude Hughes from participating in consideration of two so-called legacy… Continue reading

More Disarray on Wisconsin Supreme Court

December 31, 2015, 10:51 amjudicial electionsRick Hasen

This time over the Justices’ voting for who should serve on the Commission to discipline judicial misconduct.

“Scott Walker Corruption Case Threatens to Implicate Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices”

December 22, 2015, 8:17 amcampaign finance, judicial elections, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Pema Levy for Mother Jones: It’s the campaign scandal that just won’t die. For three years, prosecutors in Wisconsin tried to investigate what they believed was illegal campaign coordination between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and conservative outside groups. The investigation… Continue reading

“A Past and Future of Judicial Elections: The Case of Montana”

December 9, 2015, 8:42 amcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Anthony Johnstone has posted this draft on SSRN (Appellate Practice and Process). Here is the abstract: Judicial elections are approaching their second century in the United States, and they are not going anywhere soon. Now, recent deregulation of campaigns and… Continue reading

“New Analysis: Judicial Re-Election Pressures Tied to Harsher Criminal Sentencing”

December 2, 2015, 8:28 amcampaign finance, judicial electionsRick Hasen

Release: 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 … Continue reading