Publications
Fair Courts
The New Politics of Judicial Elections: 2009-10
How special interest "Super Spenders" threatened impartial justice and emboldened unprecedented legislative attacks on America's courts.
Authored by: the Brennan Center for Justice, Justice at Stake Campaign, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics
– 10/26/11
Promoting Fair and Impartial Courts through Recusal Reform
To assist state courts in responding to the need for recusal reform, the Brennan Center for Justice has collected model rules that provide a blueprint for state implementation.
Authored by: Adam Skaggs and Andrew Silver
– 08/08/11
The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000-2009: Decade of Change
State judicial elections have been transformed during the past decade. The story of America’s 2000–2009 high court contests—tens of millions of dollars raised by candidates from parties who may appear before them, millions more poured in by interest groups, nasty and misleading ads, and pressure on judges to signal courtroom rulings on the campaign trail—has become the new normal.
For more than a decade, partisans and special interests of all stripes have been growing more organized in their efforts to use elections to tilt the scales of justice their way.
Authored by: the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics
– 08/16/10
Buying Justice: The Impact of Citizens United on Judicial Elections
The impact of the Citizens United decision will be most felt in judicial elections. Adam Skaggs looks at election spending history and what state laws Citizens United overturns to show how increased corporate spending in state judicial elections may threaten independent and impartial courts.
Authored by: Adam Skaggs
– 05/05/10
Improving Judicial Diversity
Looking at racial diversity on the bench, report finds too few states make efforts to systematically attract racially diverse judicial applicants. Authors offer recommendations and best practices to solving this disparity.
Authored by: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Monique Chase and Emma Greenman | Foreword by Susan Liss
– 03/03/10
Judge Sotomayor’s Record in Constitutional Cases
This report uses measures for testing judicial activism and deference developed by academics in recent years to analyze Judge Sotomayor’s decisionmaking and compared her record to that of her colleagues on the Second Circuit.
Authored by: Monica Youn
Foreword by Professor Burt Neuborne
– 07/09/09
Supreme Court Adjudication and the Qualifications of Supreme Court Nominees
Authored by: Sidney S. Rosdeitcher
– 07/02/09
Fair Courts: Setting Recusal Standards
The Brennan Center’s recusal report addresses increasing threats to the impartiality of America’s state courts, and provides ten proposals to achieving meaningful reform of state recusal systems.
Authored by: James Sample, David Pozen and Michael Young
– 04/01/08
The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2006
This fourth edition of “The New Politics of Judicial Elections” shows how 2006 was the most threatening year yet to the fairness of America’s state courts. Special interest pressure is metastasizing into a permanent national campaign against impartial justice.
Authored by: James Sample, Lauren Jones and Rachel Weiss
– 05/17/07
The Right to Cite: Why Fair and Accountable Courts Should Abandon No-Citation Rules
Authored by: Jessie Allen