Private: Prof. Ifill Calls High Court’s Campaign Finance Ruling an “Assault on Judicial Elections”

A forthcoming report by the Brennan Center and Justice at Stake will show that unprecedented sums of money are being spent to influence the election of judges, ABC News reports.

"In the past decade, candidates for state judgeships raised more than $206 million, more than double the $83 million judges raised in the 1990s," according to the forthcoming study. ABC News also noted former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, have spoken out against the large sums of money flowing into judicial campaigns.

O'Connor recently told Georgetown law students that the amount of money being funneled into electing judges has become "a threat to judicial independence." When asked about judicial elections in the 39 states that conduct them at a recent event by the National Association of Women Judges, Justice Ginsburg said, "If there's a reform I would make, it would be that."

University of Maryland law school professor Sherrilyn Ifill, in a post for Concurring Opinions, said the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which invalidated decades of restrictions on corporate campaign contributions, "is likely to unleash a virtual run on judicial elections in some states," citing the ABC News article. 

Ifill continued:

There is a real constitutional crisis in the judiciary of some states (and no, Justice Roberts, it's not the judicial pay scale). More and more, state courts are losing confidence of the public. The single largest contributor to judicial elections is the Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business groups. Business advocates argue that this is to counter the influence trial judges had in the 1980s, when they were the largest contributors to judicial campaigns. Whatever the history, the reality is that there are strong, well-financed forces favorable to business and to conservative political principles that exert powerful influence over state judicial elections.

Earlier this week other media outlets reported on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's plans to significantly ratchet up its campaign contributions. The Washington Post reported that the pro-business lobby "plans to spend at least $50 million on political races and related activities this year, a 40 percent increase from 2008." The newspaper noted that high court's Citizens United opinion has "bolstered" the organization's potential to sway this year's midterm elections. 

Campaign Finance, Democracy and Elections