Brennan Center for Justice

Montana Overturns Law Preventing Party Endorsements of Candidates
Last week, a decision from the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Sanders County Republican Committee v. Bullock struck down a Montana law that prevented political parties from endorsing judicial candidates. In a 2-1 decision, the Court rejected Montana's argument "that preventing political parties from endorsing judicial candidates is a necessary prerequisite to maintaining a fair and independent judiciary." The Court held that Montana "lacks a compelling interest in forbidding political parties from endorsing judicial candidates" and that as a result, its law could not survive strict scrutiny. According to a blog on the New York Times, "Back in 1935, Montana made party endorsements in judicial elections a crime, an effective good-government measure that kept the third branch largely free of politics and money." A column in The Atlantic predicted that "now America is going to get more of what it seems to want -- state judiciaries that are as beholden to special interests, and as corrupted by money and lobbying, as the other two branches of government."After the decision, The Missoulian reported that "the two candidates for an open state Supreme Court seat said this week they won't accept the [party] endorsements - because a state judicial ethics code forbids it."

Andrew Cohen, A New Gold Rush: Montana's Judicial Elections Are About to Get Political, The Atlantic, September 21, 2012; Lincoln Caplan, Montana and Citizens United, Taking Note Blog for the New York Times, September 21, 2012; Nate Raymond, How Rakoff May Have Changed Judicial Elections – and Montana's Supreme Court, Reuters, September 18, 2012; Mike Dennison, Candidates for Montana Supreme Court Justice Won't Accept Party Endorsements, The Missoulian, September 20, 2012; Opinion in this case[PDF]; Dissent in this case[PDF].

Controversy Continues Over Judicial Elections in Iowa
A New York Times editorial this week highlights the Supreme Court retention election in Iowa, where conservatives are calling for the removal of Justice David Wiggins, who participated in the Court’s unanimous 2009 decision legalizing marriage for same-sex couples. According to the editorial, “This is a battle over the future of a fair and independent judiciary. And the battle is taking a new turn. Two prominent Republican politicians, Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor, and Rick Santorum, the winner of January’s Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa, will be joining a four-day ‘No Wiggins’ bus tour of 17 Iowa communities scheduled to kick off Monday in Des Moines.” The editorial concludes, “Iowa’s system of merit appointment of judges followed by up-or-down retention elections is meant to allow for the removal of corrupt or incompetent judges, not to facilitate partisan manipulation and judicial intimidation. The challenge is to remind voters of that.” In response to the bus tour mentioned above, the Iowa State Bar Association has started its own bus tour called “Yes Iowa Judges.” An article in the Gazette says that the campaign is to promote the retention of all 74 judges and justices standing for election this year and correct any misinformation voters may have. According to the association president, Cynthia Moser, “Our goal is to let Iowans know they can feel confident that their freedoms are being protected, and they should vote yes to retain the judges who provide that protection.” According to the Quad-City Times, both bus tours are kicking off at the same place and the same time. Justice Wiggins is quoted in the Quad-City Times article as saying, “I want to keep my job, believe me, but I will not jeopardize the integrity of the Iowa Supreme Court in the process. I hope you will vote ‘Yes’ for me on the back of your ballot in November…More importantly, I hope Iowa Supreme Court justices never have to raise money from political donors to ask for your vote.”

Editorial, Politics, Principle and an Attack on the Courts, The New York Times, September 23, 2012; Trish Mehaffey, Iowa State Bar Starts Its “Yes Iowa Judges” Statewide Tour Next Week, The Gazette, September 21, 2012; Mike Wiser, Justice Wiggins at Center of 2 Bus Tours Across Iowa, Quad-City Times, September 22, 2012; Rod Boshart, Santorum, Jindal Join Effort to Oust an Iowa Supreme Court Justice, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, September 18, 2012.

Video on Non-Partisan Judicial Elections Featuring West Wing Cast Goes Viral
 Bridget Mary McCormick, who is running for the Supreme Court in Michigan, has released a campaign video on YouTube featuring the cast of the popular series “The West Wing.” The video discusses ballot design, and encourages voters not to miss the non-partisan elections farther down the ballot, including the candidates for the Supreme Court. Bridget McCormick’s sister is an actress who worked on “The West Wing” for three seasons and made it possible to get the cast of the show together for the video. An article for Slate says, “the ad doubles as a PSA, alerting Michigan voters to consider the whole ballot when they perform their civic duty this fall.”

The Reliable Source, How Michigan Judicial Candidate Bridget Mary Mccormack Got ‘The West Wing’ Cast for Her Campaign Video, Washington Post Blog, September 20, 2012; David Haglund, The West Wing Is Still Teaching People About Democracy, Slate, September 20, 2012.

JUDICIAL VACANCIES

Judicial Vacancies Lead to Sharing Judges
An article by the Connecticut Post highlights the problem of federal judicial vacancies by discussing District of Connecticut Chief Judge Alvin Thompson’s decision to ask the Judicial Conference Committee on Intercircuit Assignments to help him find judges from other districts who would be willing to preside over cases in Connecticut.  Chief Judge Thompson is quoted as saying, “We needed help to keep things at a manageable level.” The judge explained that since criminal cases take precedence in federal court, civil cases are being pushed further and further back. So far, nine judges have responded to the request, and they will be coming on a staggered timeline. Chief Judge Thompson is quoted as saying, “I'm really appreciative of their willingness to come here and help us out…What they are doing is a real contribution to their fellow judges, to the bar and, above all, to the public.”

Michael P. Mayko, Out of State Judges Coming to Connecticut to Help With Federal Backlog, The Connecticut Post, September 24, 2012.