— In more than one third of the 125 cases analyzed, at least one judge had received campaign money from at least one of the attorneys involved in the case. In one case, seven of the nine judges involved had received campaign contributions from attorneys for at least one of the parties.
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In one case, seven of the nine judges involved had received campaign contributions from attorneys for at least one of the parties. — The voting patterns of judges who opted into the public financing system “changed dramatically” after 2002.
(NC State Archives) State supreme court judges who rely on public financing to fund their elections become less likely to favor attorneys who have donated to their campaigns in the past, a 2016 study suggests. The issue : In most states, judges who serve on state supreme courts are elected by the public.
A 2010 article in the New York University Law Review, “The Partisan Price of Justice: An Empirical Analysis of Campaign Contributions and Judicial Decisions,” concludes that “every dollar of direct contributions from business groups is associated with an increase in the probability that the judges will vote for business litigants.”
They analyzed a total of 492 judicial votes on 125 non-unanimous cases that were decided between Jan. 1, 1997 and Dec. 31, 2009 and accompanied by a published opinion. — In more than one third of the 125 cases analyzed, at least one judge had received campaign money from at least one of the attorneys involved in the case.
A justice's decisions are influenced by how he or she defines his role as a jurist, with some justices believing strongly in judicial activism, or the need to defend individual rights and liberties, and they aim to stop actions and laws by other branches of government that they see as infringing on these rights.
5 To Haines, the factors most likely to influence judicial decisions are: (1) "direct influences" which include: (a) legal and political experiences; (b) political affiliations and opinions; and (c) intellectual and temperamental traits; and (2) "indirect and remote influences" which include: (a) legal and general ...
A judge should resign the judicial office if the judge becomes a candidate in a primary or general election for any office. (C) Other Political Activity. A judge should not engage in any other political activity.
How does merit selection of judges typically work? A blue-ribbon commission nominates judicial candidates for appointment. Judges are subject to retention elections to keep their offices. The governor appoints recommended candidates to office.
Someone must decide what the facts are, identify the relevant legal norm or standard, and then determine whether and to what extent the legal norm or standard governs. That is the role of the judge: to interpret the standard and decide whether or not it applies to the facts of the case.
A justice's decisions are influenced by how he or she defines his role as a jurist, with some justices believing strongly in judicial activism , or the need to defend individual rights and liberties, and they aim to stop actions and laws by other branches of government that they see as infringing on these rights.
These are addressed as “Sir” or “Madam”… Quite nice if there are more than one, when referring to the court as a whole is either to call it “the court” or say “you sir and you colleagues”. They are written to as “Dear Judge.” Almost invariably “my learned friend”.
All of this led Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to say that “the single greatest threat to judicial independence . . . is the flood of money coming into our courtrooms by way of increasingly expensive and volatile judicial elections.” Margaret Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, ...
What is one of the most frustrating aspects of being a judge? Heavy caseloads and corresponding administrative problems.
The assisted appointment method of judicial selection, sometimes referred to as merit selection or the Missouri Plan, is a process by which the governor appoints state judges with help from a nominating commission or board.
Selection of Judgeselection,appointment for a given number of years,appointment for life, and.combinations of these methods, e.g., appointment followed by election.
Judges are expected to be fair, honest, patient, wise, legal wisdom, etc., but they are also expected to be good managers—keep the docket moving, organized. There is no consensus on whom we should trust to select judges, the choices include, lawyers, elected officials or the voters.
A 2013 paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, “Repeat Campaign Donors and State Supreme Court Decision Making,” examines campaign contributions from attorneys and litigants and found that attorney donations were, on average, much larger than donations from litigants.
North Carolina Supreme Court, 1951-1952. (NC State Archives) State supreme court judges who rely on public financing to fund their elections become less likely to favor attorneys who have donated to their campaigns in the past, a 2016 study suggests. The issue : In most states, judges who serve on state supreme courts are elected by the public.
The National Institute on Money in State Politics tracks contributions to political campaigns in the 50 states. The American Bar Association offers a fact sheet explaining how judges are selected in various states. The National Center for State Courts is a nonprofit organization focused on judicial reform.
The National Center for State Courts is a nonprofit organization focused on judicial reform. Justice at Stake, a national judicial advocacy group, supports the public financing of judicial elections. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Williams-Yulee v.
Unlike other elected officials, however, judges must be impartial in their decisions. There is concern among some policymakers, legal observers and others that judicial decisions may be affected by donations to judges’ election campaigns. That concern has grown as spending on judicial elections, which generally involve relatively low profile races, has risen in recent years. In 2015-16, for example, special interest groups spent a record $19.4 million on TV ads for state supreme court judicial races, according to a November 2016 analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice, a left-leaning policy institute at New York University’s School of Law.
A 2013 study in the Journal of Public Economics, “To Elect or to Appoint? Bias, Information, and Responsiveness of Bureaucrats and Politicians,” finds that appoint ed judges are less likely to make errors and more likely to change their preconceived opinions about a case than elected judges.
While some states provide public financing for elections as a way to limit donors’ influence, states cannot require candidates to use it. Two states — New Mexico and West Virginia — offer public financing for candidates running for seats on their supreme courts, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. North Carolina eliminated its public financing program for supreme court candidates in 2013. To receive the money, candidates must agree to limits on the amount of money they can collect from a single donor.
Attorney Contributions in Judicial Campaigns: Creating the Appearance of Impropriety
In 1990, the A.B.A. adopted a new Model Code of Judicial Conduct. To date, only
A [judicial] candidate shall not personally solicit or accept campaign
Involuntary recusal of judges has greater policy implications in the supreme court than in the circuit court and court of appeals. Litigants have a broad right to substitution of a judge in circuit court. When a judge withdraws following the filing of a substitution request, a new judge will be assigned. When a judge on the court of appeals withdraws from a case, a new judge also is assigned. When a justice of the supreme court withdraws from a case, however, the justice is not replaced. Thus, the recusal of a supreme court justice alters the number of justices reviewing a case as well as the composition of the court. These recusals affect the interests of non-litigants as well as non-contributors, inasmuch as supreme court decisions almost invariably have repercussions beyond the parties.
In 1999, the American Bar Association amended the Model Code of Judicial Conduct to add a new Canon 3(E)(1)(e) that provides a judge shall disqualify himself or herself from a case where “the judge knows or learns by means of a timely motion that a party or a party’s lawyer has within the previous [ ] year[s] made aggregate contributions to the judge’s campaign in an amount that is greater than .”
recuse himself or herself in a proceeding based solely on any endorsement or the judge’s campaign committee’s receipt of a lawful campaign contribution, including a campaign contribution from an individual or entity involved in the proceeding.1
Texas law restricts the number of judicial races during any single election cycle to no more than six. (T/F)
a. The governor has the power to limit the jurisdiction of the appellate courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Voting Rights Act applies to state judicial elections. (T/F)
c. The governor appoints all members to the Texas Supreme Court.
In Texas, the county judge presides over the county court. (T/F)
Many voters will vote for a judicial candidate whose name they are familiar with, even if they know nothing about the candidate. An indictment is also known as a: a. felony.