Buying and Selling Judges
Fair Courts E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Robert Barnes
Source: Washington Post
Date: November 5, 2011
A Washington Post editorial describes the findings of the New Politics of Judicial Elections: 2009-2010 as “disturbing.” According to the editorial, “[t]he notion of impartial justice for all is obliterated when judges are forced to think like politicians and to curry favor with monied interests just to keep their jobs.” Meanwhile, another Post article discusses how retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has spoken out against the general trend of increasing politicization of the judiciary identified by the report, and against judicial elections, in particular. The Post notes that Justice O’Connor “has made a special mission of trying to persuade states where judges are elected that they should shift to a system of appointed judges” in an effort to combat the soaring campaign contributions and increased partisanship in supreme court races in many states.
See also: Robert Barnes, O’Connor Breaks Ground Again, This Time as a Former Supreme Court Justice, Washington Post, November 6, 2011.