Fair Courts E-Lert: Two Justices Suggest Citizens United Ruling Should be Reconsidered in Montana Case
1. This Wednesday, February 29, at 6:00pm EST the Brennan Center for Justice will hold a Roundtable Discussion on the State of the Foreclosure Crisis in New York. At the event, Scott R. Wilson, Senior Advisor and Special Counsel to the New York State Attorney General, will discuss the recent foreclosure settlement agreement and its impact on NY. Panelists will also examine whether homeowners and communities are receiving the assistance they need and explore how the impact of the foreclosure crisis on a fair and effective judiciary and how state and federal investigators can demand accountability for risky lending practices.
For more information and to RSVP, click here.
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1. On February 17th, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a decision of the Montana Supreme Court that upheld the state’s ban on corporate spending in political campaigns. Although a lower state court found the statute unconstitutional in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, in December, the Montana high court voted 5-2 to restore the century-old state ban. In upholding the ban, the court focused on judicial elections, emphasizing the state’s interest in protecting Montana’s judicial elections from inappropriate influence by corporate election spending. The Supreme Court’s stay order has received considerable press, particularly because Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer suggested the Supreme Court take the opportunity to reconsider its decision in Citizens United. A New York Times editorial last week urged the U.S. Supreme Court to do so, noting that “[t]he damaging effects of unlimited spending by corporations and unions on elections — honestly examined — should cause the court to overturn or, at the very least, limit that ruling.” In the Times Opinonator blog, Linda Greenhouse described the idea that the Court would reverse Citizens United as “a long shot, but an intriguing one.”
Robert Barnes,Washington Post, Two Justices Suggest Citizens United Ruling Should be Reconsidered in Montana Case, February 17, 2012; The Court and Citizens United II, New York Times, February 21, 2012; Linda Greenhouse, Do-Over Season, New York Times, February 22, 2012; Tony Mauro, Rally at Supreme Court Supports Montana Ruling on Campaign Finance, Blog of Legal Times, February 23, 2012.
Judicial Selection in the States
2. Iowa’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady is “very concerned about what might lie ahead [in this year’s retention elections] only because I realize what happened a year and a half ago.” Referring to the ousting of three sitting justices in 2010—over a controversial same-sex marriage ruling from 2009—Chief Justice Cady expressed his concern for the upcoming judicial retention elections of four of the court’s seven justices this November. One justice who participated in the controversial ruling will face the voters this fall, along with the three justices who were appointed to fill vacancies created as a result of the 2010 vote. However, Chief Justice Cady also discussed how the justices have traveled throughout Iowa to hear cases and make their work more visible to the public in an attempt to help people better understand how the court works.
O. Kay Henderson, Chief Justice “Very Concerned” About November’s Retention Election, Radio Iowa, February 24, 2012; Chief Justice: Iowa Supreme Court Stronger After 2010 Ousters, Associated Press, February 26, 2012.
3. Last Thursday the Kansas Senate defeated a bill to replace merit selection of judges on the Court of Appeals with appointment by the governor. The Senate voted 22-17 against the proposal after its critics denounced the bill as politically motivated. Speaking to the Witchita Eagle, Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley said that “Granting the governor unilateral appointment power subject to Senate confirmation decimates a selection process that has worked well for many years and undermines the integrity and independence of the judicial branch of Kansas government.”
Tim Carpenter, Senate Dismisses Court of Appeals Selection Reform, Topeka Capital-Journal, February 23, 2012, Brent Wistrom, Senators Reject Bill that Would let Governor, Senate Pick Judges, Wichita Eagle, February 23, 2012.
Judicial Discipline
4. According to an article in the Tennessean, a plan to reform the way judges are held accountable—by replacing the state’s judicial discipline commission with a new “board of judicial conduct” and removing the ability of the Tennessee Supreme Court to appoint members—has gained support from the legislature and state judges. The proposal, sponsored by Senator Mae Beavers, seeks to achieve compromise between sitting judges and conservatives who have been advocating that the legislature take control over the judicial discipline process.
Brandon Gee, Compromise on TN Court of the Judiciary Picks up Steam, Tennessean, February 22, 2012.
Diversity on the Bench
5. Last week the Indiana judicial nominating commission selected two men and one woman as finalists for the upcoming vacancy on the state’s Supreme Court. Governor Mitch Daniels will choose from the three nominees within the next 60 days. Currently, the Indiana Supreme Court is one of only three state supreme courts with no female justices—the other two are Iowa and Idaho.
William J. Booher, 2 Men, 1 Woman Named as Indiana Supreme Court Finalists, Indianapolis Star, February 23, 2012; Maureen Hayden, Daniels may face Gender Issue Again with Top Court Pick, Jeffersonville Evening News and Tribune, February 22, 2012.
Court Resources
6. In a Tuscaloosa News article about the state judiciary’s financial crisis, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Malone remarked that before his appointment to the Court in August he “didn’t know the judges and our judicial system were being pulled down to this extent.” The article reports that Malone told members of the Alabama Press Association that court funding is his top priority: he wants an additional $17 million in appropriations for the state court system because “judges are the gatekeepers of the constitution.”
Wayne Grayson, Chief Justice Wants More for Courts, Tuscaloosa News, February 19, 2012.
